Historical processes and structural factors of deforestation in the Amazon: the case of Tena, Ecuador (2014)

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to analyze and describe the historical, institutional and structural factors of deforestation taking into account the dynamics of intensification or «extensification» of land use in the Amazon region of Tena in Ecuador. A first conclusion was finding the reproduction of an extensive pattern of agriculture in Tena as an important direct agent of deforestation. We believe that this agricultural system originates in historical processes from the sixties, when the state intervenes promoting certain policies of extensive land use, through road construction and specific mechanisms of land titling. The current social and institutional dynamics have failed to reverse such situation, since deforestation is still playing, although there is a tendency to close the agricultural frontier. The indicated form of farming and the corresponding rates of deforestation are played today as a result of structural factors, such as farm size, proximity to roads, the type of technology used and unfavorable market linkages.