Amazonia Attractions

To open it up to traffic two long-distance roads were constructed: the Transamazónica (Trans-Amazonian Highway), running from east to west, and two north-south roads, from Santarém to Cuiabá and from Manaus to Porto Velho. The government's settlement policy failed in its objectives, since the soil made available for cultivation by forest clearance turned out to be particularly unproductive and was soon swept away by erosion. Instead of the small farms originally contemplated the reclaimed land is now occupied mainly by large cattle ranches, which make increasing inroads on the forest.

Hydraulic power

Though still in its early stages, the plan for the development of water power by the construction of huge dams and hydraulic power stations has already led to profound changes in the ecology of the region. Not the least of the consequences has been a drastic reduction in the bases of the subsistence economy of the Amazonian Indians. As a result the Indians are being driven ever farther away from their ancestral territories, and not seldom exterminated. The Indians have also suffered from the ruthless exploitation of the Amazon region by gold-prospectors, mining operations and the felling of fine hardwood trees for the sake of their timber. The full effects on the global climate of this irreparable destruction of the landscape cannot yet be foreseen.