U.S.-Brazil Dissertation Improvement: The Role of Land Tenure on the Occurrence of Accidental Fires in the Amazon Region: Case Studies from the Santarem Region

Indiana University, Bloomington IN

Investigators

Abstract

0121563 Ostrom This Americas Program award will support thesis dissertation research by Dr. Maria Angelica Toniolo under the direction of Dr. Elinor Ostrom of Indiana University-Bloomington and in collaboration with Dr. Daniel Nepstad of the Intituto de Pesquisa Ambiental da Amazonia (IPAM). Ms. Toniolo plans to explore the impact of different property regimes on the incidence of accidental fires in smallholder communities in Tapajos National Park in the Santarem region of Para state in north central Brazil. The ultimate objective of this comparative study is to produce a rigorous assessment of the relationship between accidental fires, small farming practices, forest fragmentation, and property regimes and, thereby, contribute to the understanding of deforestation processes and the formulation of conservation policy in the Amazon. Results of this proposal will be relevant for improving current understanding of the underlying interactions among land tenure, decision making regarding land use and management of accidental fires. It will allow for the creation of a fire-risk map at the farm-community level, which can be used to indicate and minimize risk in areas that need special attention in terms of fire prevention. The study will apply two different approaches based on Geographic Information System (GIS) to model the likelihood of accidental fires at the farm community level. It will also add new information to the National Program of Prevention and Control of Fires in the Deforestation Arch (PROARCO) and to the Large-Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia (LBA).