El objetivo del presente artículo es analizar y describir los factores históricos, institucionales y estructurales de la deforestación teniendo en cuenta la dinámica de intensificación o «extensificación» de uso del suelo en la región amazónica de Tena, en Ecuador. Una primera conclusión fue constatar la reproducción de una agricultura extensiva en Tena como un importante agente directo de la deforestación. Creemos que dicho sistema agrícola se origina en procesos históricos, desde la década de 1960, cuando el Estado ecuatoriano interviene fomentando ciertas políticas de ocupación extensiva del suelo, a través de la construcción de caminos de penetración y algunas modalidades específicas de titulación de tierras. Las dinámicas sociales e institucionales actuales no han logrado revertir tal situación, pues la deforestación se sigue reproduciendo, a pesar de que e...

The objective of this article is to describe and analyze the productive characteristics and the corresponding environmental impact of the small and medium extensive cattle ranching practiced by colonists-mestizos and settlers belonging to the Shuar ethnic group in the Morona canton, located in the Ecuadorian Amazon. It is undisputable that there are forms of extensive livestock farming that are more sustainable than others, but we believe that the volume of land cleared is a problem that must be addressed. This production system is based on the movement of cattle between pastures on a farm due, among other things, to the low nutritional potential of the gramalote grass. This activity generates deforestation in large extensions of land. Among the factors that accentuate such levels of deforestation are, on the one hand, the larger size of the agricultural units and the need to compensate ...

This article explains how the family productive strategies of farmer settlers and their perceptions of the forest influence the rate of deforestation. This particular approach, based on the analysis of endogenous processes, seeks to contextualize and understand how farmers operate within a context of «forest transition», as a result of significant economic changes, market expansion and road infrastructuredevelopment. Our central argument is that the farmers’ strategies in Tena, in relation to the rate of deforestation on their farms, are a result of the combination of a set of economic processes of survival in the short and medium term and of their mental or cultural perceptions of the forest. Such endogenous processes arenot only responses to external contexts but are also derived from demographic cycles and accumulation dynamics that occur within the families of producers.

Este artículo explica la forma como las estrategias productivas familiares de los colonos agricultores y las percepciones que los agricultores tienen sobre el bosque influyen en el ritmo de deforestación. Este tipo de enfoque, basado en el análisis de procesos endógenos, procura contextualizar y entender cómo los agricultores funcionan dentro de un contexto de «transición forestal», resultado de significativos cambios económicos, expansión del mercado y desarrollo de la infraestructura vial. Nuestro argumento central es que las indicadas estrategias de los agricultores en el cantón de Tena, en relación con el ritmo de deforestación en sus fincas, se construyen como resultado de la combinación de un conjunto de procesos económicos de sobrevivencia a corto y mediano plazo y desde los cuales se elaboran percepciones mentales o culturales sobre el bosque. Tales procesos endóg...

The objective of this article is to describe and analyze the productive characteristics and the corresponding environmental impact of the small and medium extensive cattle ranching practiced by colonists-mestizos and settlers belonging to the Shuar ethnic group in the Morona canton, located in the Ecuadorian Amazon. It is undisputable that there are forms of extensive livestock farming that are more sustainable than others, but we believe that the volume of land cleared is a problem that must be addressed. This production system is based on the movement of cattle between pastures on a farm due, among other things, to the low nutritional potential of the gramalote grass. This activity generates deforestation in large extensions of land. Among the factors that accentuate such levels of deforestation are, on the one hand, the larger size of the agricultural units and the need to compensate ...

This article explains how the family productive strategies of farmer settlers and their perceptions of the forest influence the rate of deforestation. This particular approach, based on the analysis of endogenous processes, seeks to contextualize and understand how farmers operate within a context of «forest transition», as a result of significant economic changes, market expansion and road infrastructuredevelopment. Our central argument is that the farmers’ strategies in Tena, in relation to the rate of deforestation on their farms, are a result of the combination of a set of economic processes of survival in the short and medium term and of their mental or cultural perceptions of the forest. Such endogenous processes arenot only responses to external contexts but are also derived from demographic cycles and accumulation dynamics that occur within the families of producers.

The objective of this article is to describe and analyze the productive characteristics and the corresponding environmental impact of the small and medium extensive cattle ranching practiced by colonists-mestizos and settlers belonging to the Shuar ethnic group in the Morona canton, located in the Ecuadorian Amazon. It is undisputable that there are forms of extensive livestock farming that are more sustainable than others, but we believe that the volume of land cleared is a problem that must be addressed. This production system is based on the movement of cattle between pastures on a farm due, among other things, to the low nutritional potential of the gramalote grass. This activity generates deforestation in large extensions of land. Among the factors that accentuate such levels of deforestation are, on the one hand, the larger size of the agricultural units and the need to compensate ...