Langstroth 2001 - Lessons From Moxos

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Lessons from the Llanos de Moxos Ecoregion

Robert P. Langstroth233 Dentaria Dr.

Cottage Grove, WI 53527

Prepared for the

International Conference on Agriculture and the Environment in the ParaguayRiver Basin

Asuncin, ParaguayJune 8-10, 2001


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Lessons from the Llanos de Moxos Ecoregion

Robert P. Langstroth

Abstract

The Llanos de Moxos is a 126,000-km2 expanse of seasonally-inundated savannas, wetlands,gallery forests, and forest islands in the Amazonian lowlands of northern Bolivia. Theregion is morphologically similar to the Pantanal and the Chaco Hmedo of the Paraguayriver basin. Agriculture in the Moxos is presently limited to approximately 32,000 ha and isnearly exclusively restricted to deforested uplands. The agricultural potential of the region,and Bolivia generally, is considered to be very low by recent studies. However, studies of thearchaeological landscapes of Moxos provide a different perspective. Rather than being apristine landscape with minimal human impact, the Llanos de Moxos is in reality an ancientcultural landscape with extensive areas of raised agricultural fields and other earthworks.The raised field technologies of the indigenous cultures of Moxos have been demonstratedto allow the cultivation of crops in seasonally-inundated savannas and wetlands consideredto have no agricultural value using standard practices. Moxos has the potential to againbecome an important agricultural region without the need for deforestation. Cattle ranchinghas been the dominant land use in Moxos for over three centuries. Livestock production isa rational use of the extensive natural rangelands and is generally compatible with theconservation of the regions landscapes and biodiversity. However, there are some adverseimpacts that need to be addressed to ensure the sustainability of cattle ranching. The diversepeoples and stakeholders of Moxos need to develop strategic partnerships locally andinternationally to enhance the regions self-reliance while seeking increased participation infair trade systems.


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Lessons from Moxos

Introduction

Central South America contains three great non-forest ecoregions: the Chaco, the Pantanal,

and the Llanos de Moxos (Fig. 1). These regions are characterized by complex mosaics ofsavannas, grasslands, wetlands, gallery forests, and forest islands. They are also largely flatand poorly drained landscapes subject to seasonal inundation. They share low humanpopulation densities, but large populations of cattle. Each of these regions is seen as a lastfrontier, both internally and externally.

Fig. 1. Map of the Central South American Non-Forest Ecoregions.

While most of the Chaco and all the Pantanal are within the Paraguay river basin, Moxos lies

entirely within the southern Amazon basin of Bolivia, primarily in the Departamento delBeni. Nevertheless, there are strong biogeographical and cultural links among the threeregions. While the Chaco Hmedo is most similar physically and biologically to Moxos andthe Pantanal, all of the Chaco shares similar problems in terms of human development andenvironmental conservation. This paper will explore the past and present of Moxos insearch of answers for the future.

EcoregionArid ChacoLlanos de MoxosChaco savannasHumid ChacoPantanal


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Phyiscal Geography

The Llanos de Moxos ecoregion is a 126,000 square kilometer expanse of savannas,wetlands, and forests. The Moxos plains are largely Quaternary-aged alluvial landforms withsediments of Andean provenance, with the exception of the Baures subregion which receives

water and sediments from the Precambian shield of Chiquitos. Local relief is on the orderof 2-6 meters. The northern plains are older dissected surface of Tertiary age withconsiderable laterite crusts and nodules.

Moxos is in the upper Madeira river basin and is defined by three major rivers: the Beni inthe west, the Mamor in the central region, and the Itnez (known as the Guapor in Brazil)on the eastern edge. Perhaps 20% of the flooding in Moxos is directly attributable to fluvialoverbank events. By far, rainwater ponding is the dominant source of the inundations whichcover much of the landscape during the wet season.

A unique feature of Moxos is the presence of hundred of rectangular to elliptical orientedlakes with the long axis trending SW-NE. The origins of these lakes is subject to much

debate. Competing origins include neotectonics, aeolian deflation, and humans.

The climate is tropical wet and dry with the drought season occuring during the australwinter, Kppens Aw type. Over 80% of the rain falls between November and May. Therainy season is characterized by extensive indundation caused by a combination of rainwaterponding and overbank flood events. During the dry season, however, water is scarce on theplains and the once lush wetlands wither to reveal parched, cracked soils.

As in the Pantanal and parts of the Chaco, this combination of seasonal flooding anddrought creates conditions unfavorable for most types of woody plants, resulting in theexistence of extensive natural savannas, grasslands, and wetlands. Forests are largely

restricted to landforms with deeper and better drained soils, primarily upon natural levee andmeander scroll formations of both active and fossil rivers.

The vegetation of Moxos is composed of diverse mix of Amazonian, Cerrado, Chacoan, DryForest, and other elements. For example, the widespread Chacoan palm Copernicia alba(palmera blanca, carand, caranda-) is the dominant element over extensive areas of Moxos.On higher ground, the motac palm (acuri, Attalea phalerata) is a keystone species.

The herbaceous wetlands are characterized by taxa such as Cyperus giganteus, Eichhorniaspp.,Eleocharisspp.,Nymphaeaspp., Pontederiaspp., Rhynchosporaspp., and Thalia geniculata.Grasslands contain genera such asAndropogon, Hymenachne, Leersia, Luziola, Panicum, Paspalum,

Setaria, Sporobolus.

Copernicia albapalm savannas with scattered trees such as Machaerium hirtum, Pseudobombaxspp., and Tabebuia aurea. In with older weather sediments or Precambrian shield influence,MauritiaandMauritiellaswamps occur locally on wet acidic soils.

Drier savannas and woodlands occur on the backslopes of natural levees and upon splaydeposits. In addition to Copernicia alba,Acrocomia aculeata, Astronium fraxinifolium,Celtisspp.,Coccolobaspp., Cordiaspp., Guazuma ulmifolia, Pithecellobium scalare, Samanea tubulosa, Sorocea


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saxicola, Tabebuia heptaphylla, and Tabebuia ochraceaare common elements. Termite mounds areimportant microrelief features which give rise to small islands of woody vegetations in areasof shallow seasonal inundation.

Forest islands and gallery forests with mixed Amazonian and Dry Forest elements are

important lanscape elements in Moxos as they are in the Pantanal and parts of the Chaco.The forest islands are primarily remnants of palaeolevee formations, although many havebeen augmented by human activity and some are wholly human creations Common treesincludeAcaciaspp., Albiziaspp.,Anadenanthera colubrina, Attalea phalerata, Calophyllumbrasiliense,Calycophyllum spruceanum, Ceiba pentandra, Cordia glabrata, Enterolobium contortisiliquum,Ficusspp., Guareaspp., Genipa americana, Hura crepitans, Rheediaspp., Spondias mombin, Sterculiaapetala, Triplaris americana, and Vitex cymosa.

The fauna similarly is composed of a mix of Amazonian and southern elements. Forexample, the Cerrado and Chaco toad Bufo paracnemiscan be found in proximity to theAmazonian Bufo marinus. Anacondas are common. In addition to the AmazonianEunectesmurinus, a new endemic species, E. beniensishas recently been described from the Moxos

savannas.

The dominant wildlife of Moxos would be familiar to the Pantaneiro or Chaqueo:capybaras, tapirs, peccaries, marsh deer, brocket deer, pacas, agoutis, armadillos, manedwolves, yacar caimans, rheas, jabir storks (tuiuiu), ducks, and southern screamers arecommon. However, there are Amazonian elements such as black caimans (Melanosuchus niger)and river dolphins (Inia geoffrensis) which make the Moxos region unique. Primates areabundant in most areas and include the same species ofAlouatta, Aotus, Callicebus, Callithrix,and Cebusthat are present in the Chaco and Pantanal. In addition,Atelesand Saimiriare alsopresent in the forest corridors of Moxos. A truly uniques species to Moxos is the blue-throated macaw(Ara glaucogularis), which nests only in isolated forest islands dominated by

Attalea phalerata.

Economically important fish such as surub(Pseudoplatystoma), pac(Colossoma), and sbalo(Prochilodus) are abundant in rivers, lakes, and even the seasonally inundated wetlands.Smaller species such as the bentn(Hoplias), yey(Hoplerythrinus), and buchere (Hoplosternon)are highly important as subsistence resources for rural people.


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Human Geography

The forests and savannas of Moxos have been occupied by peoples of diverse cultures andethnicities over the past few millennia. The first peoples included groups of more than fivelinguistic families. The distribution of each major group corresponded somewhat with the

natural geographic subregions and major watersheds.

Arawaks: Moxo, Baures

Tacanans: Reyesanos, Tacana

Panoans: Chcobo

Tupi-Guaranes: Sirion, Guarayos

Unclassified groups: Movimas, Canichanas, Cayubabas, Itonamas, Chimane,Yuracar

The Jesuits were the first Europeans to arrive in Moxos in the 1670s and 1680s. The

Numerous missions were established between 1672 and the time of Jesuit expulsion in 1767.Only after their expulsion were secular Spaniards allowed entry. The missions played animportant role in the geopolitics of the Guapor/Itnez Frontier between Spanish andPortuguese America.

The Departamento del Beni, the first-order political division that roughly follows theboundaries of the old Provincia de Moxos, has some 366,000 inhabitants (INE 2000). Thepopulation of the Beni has increased by nearly a third since 1992 when it was censused at276,174. Denevan (1966) conservatively estimated the precontact Llanos de Moxospopulation as 350,000, but has suggested that it could have been as high as 1 million. Jesuitreports provide an estimated population of over 112,000 in more than 360 villages.

However, only 28,000 were reported in a 1830 census.

The largest city of the Llanos de Moxos is Trinidad, capital of the Beni. After more than 300years since its foundation as a Jesuit mission in 1686, Trinidad has a population of less than70,000 and still does not have a centralized sewage system. The next largest cities of theBeni are Riberalta (43,000) and Guayaramern (28,000), both located in the forestednorthern triangle, not within the savannas zone itself. San Borja is the next largestsavanna city at 12,000. This town has grown dramatically in the 1980s and 1990s as theresult of its proximity to La Paz by road. The savannas of northern La Paz (ProvinciaIturralde) are nearly uninhabited except for ranches and a few small villages.

Settlement patterns today are determined largely by the limited availability of (relatively)

flood-free areas. Most towns were established as Jesuit missions from the 1680s to the1760s. Riberalta and Guayaramern were established during the early Rubber Boom in the1880s. Many small settlements were established since the 1930s along trails and roadsconnecting the major cities.

Trinidad is poorly linked even to major cities within Bolivia. Year-round roads to La Pazand Santa Cruz were constructed just in the mid 1980s. River travel was historically an


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important mode of transportation; for example all gasoline, diesel, and natural gas reachesTrinidad via barges from the Department of Cochabamba.

Small farms and dairies have been established in better-drained areas around the city and thenearby Mamor natural levee formations to supply local demands. Yet still, there is much

open land and wildlife just beyond the urban fringe. Capybaras and yacar caimans can stillbe found within the city itself.

The urban/rural population division is very unequal, with 74% (271,000) in places with apopulation of 2,000 or more and 26% (95,000) in dispersed villages and ranches. This splithas increased since 1992 when it was 66% urban and 34% rural.

The overall population is density 1.71 persons per square kilometer (national density is 7.58),however the rural density is less than 0.5 persons per square kilometer. That cattle ranchingis the dominant land use is not inconsequential to the low rural population density.

Most of the population in the Bolivian Amazon is in the region surrounding the city of Santa

Cruz de la Sierra in the Departamento de Santa Cruz, which separates El Beni from MatoGrosso and Paraguay. The soils around Santa Cruz are comprised of sandy alluvium plainsfrom the Pira and Grande rivers. Santa Cruz is at the edge of the Amazon and the Chaco.Population and economy of this region exploded in the 1970s as the result of agroindustrialdevelopment based on cotton, sugar cane, and soybeans.

Present Situation of Agriculture in Moxos

The area of actively cultivated lands in the Departamento del Beni has stabilized atapproximately 32,000 ha during 1990s, less than 1% percent of the regions area. The Benis

cultivated land account for only 1.7% of the national total (1,884,240 ha), yet the Benioccupies nearly 20% of the national territory. This might seem to suggest that the Moxosregion is less suited to agriculture than most other areas of the country.

Rice (mostly upland), maize, plantains, manioc, and sugar cane are the major crops by areaplanted.

Area (hectares) of the Major Crops in the Departamento del Beni, 1999-2000 (Source: INE2001):

Rice 11,560

Maize 7,326Plantains 5,901Manioc 3,662Sugar cane 2,568

Agriculture accounts for only 4.1% of the Benis Gross Domestic Product, while livestockcontributes over a quarter of the total (INE 2000).


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Yet on a unit land area basis, agriculture appears to be far more profitable than cattleranching. Assuming approximately 100,000 square kilometers of savannas in the Beni, asquare kilometer of rangeland generates about 3,960 bs (about $720 US); the same area ofcropland generates 196,460 bs (about $35,720 US) , over 50 times more than the rangeland.This simplistic analysis suggests that farming is in fact a more lucrative land use than cattle

ranching on a hectare by hectare basis. Deforestation for pasture would seem to be far lessprofitable than deforestation for crop production. Assuming that there is a market, cattleranchers could increase their profits by dedicating just a few hectares to sustainableagricultural production. Agriculture is far more labor intensive and takes greater initialinvestment per unit area, but the relative profit margin appears considerable.

Food is still imported into the Llanos de Moxos region from Santa Cruz, the Andes, andeven other countries, primarily Brazil. Potatoes, wheat flour, canned and packaged foods,noodles and pastas, are not produced locally and must be imported. However, even locallyobtainable products such as rice and sugar are imported.

Current Agricultural Potential of Moxos and Bolivia

Pacheco and Miranda (2000) conclude that

...the Beni has scarce soils suitable for annual crops... In general, the areas arecharacterized by low agricultural potential and high ecological vulnerability. Itsprincipal limitations include the [low] fertility of the soils, adverse climaticconditions, and other natural factors that make the development of modernagriculture impossible.

According to the Inter-American Development Bank (1998),

Although Bolivia has an area of more than 109 million hectares, the potential arablesurfaces equal just 2.8% (3.1 million hectares), which indicates a very low availabilityof lands suitable for agricultural purposes. Of this cultivable area, only 60% (1.9million hectares) is currently utilized, with 38% dedicated to the production ofcereals (maize, wheat, rice, barley, quinoa, and sorghum), 34% to agroindustrial crops(soybeans, sugar cane, cotton, and sunflower), 10% with root crops (potatoes andmanioc), 6% to vegetables, 5% to fruits, 5% to forages, and 2% to other crops.

With facts like these, we shouldnt be surprised that there is so little agriculture in Moxosor that it imports food from other regions. Or should it?

The Departamento del Beni includes over 21 million hectares. Assuming that 10% of thiswere potentially arable, this would provide 2.1 million hectares of agricultural land, a figuregreater than the total area presently cultivated nationwide, as estimated by the IADB. If5percent of the Beni were potentially arable, this would increase Bolivias area by a third.If the national average of 2.8% were applied, there could be as much as 588 thousandhectares of arable land in the Beni, well over a quarter of the current national farmland.What is the reality? I will argue later that in fact nearly all of the land area of the Beni andMoxos is potentially arable and that a considerable portion of it was in fact once cultivated.


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Present Agricultural Impacts in Moxos

Agriculture is not generally perceived as a major threat to the environments of the Llanos de

Moxos due to its limited areal extent and because few consider widespread agriculturaldevelopment possible. Occasional concern arises when smoke becomes a problem in LaPaz, Cochabamba, or Santa Cruz, and the small Swidden farmers of the Beni becometargeted as culprits along with the cattle ranchers.

Relatively minor amounts of petrochemical fertilizers and biocides are used in Moxos, giventhat most agriculture is realized by cash-poor swidden farmers. As a result, littleenvironmental pollution has been associated with agriculture as practiced in Moxos.

Gallery forests and forest islands are the targets for swidden farmers in the Moxos savannas.The cumulative impacts of swiddens can lead to lost of forest cover and loss of biodiversity,yet these have not been estimated in Moxos. The primary impacts identified are those

associated with the agricultural colonization by Andean peoples primarily in the Andeanpiedmont regions south and west of San Borja, associated with the road to La Paz. Otherzones of agricultural concentration are along the road to Santa Cruz and the region southeastof Trinidad.

Some more affluent landowners have tried their hand at farming, but most have found thelack of market accessibility problematic. Occasional rumors circulate of plans to convertlarge areas of upland savanna to soybeans, but this has not yet materialized.

The situation of the Departamento and the Llanos de Moxos should be contrasted with theneighboring departments of Cochabamba and Santa Cruz, which have both experienced

massive deforestation over the past three decades from the cultivation of export andindustrial crops, including coca, sugar cane, soybeans, and cotton. The estimated rate ofdeforestation in Santa Cruz was among the highest in the world for such a limited area,ranging from 160 km2 yr-1 in the early1980s to almost 1200 km2 yr-1 in the late 1990s(Steininger et. al. 2001). National agricultural statistics show cultivated land I in Santa Cruzincreased from 499,790 ha in the 1990-91 season to 1,162,797 ha in 1999-2000 (INE 2001).

Agriculture under the Missions

Jesuit missionaries established a system ofreduccionesbetween 1672 and 1767 in Moxos, as

they did in Chiquitos and the Guaran regions as well. The missions were agriculturalcenters. After the expulsion of the Jesuits in 1767, these missions were passed to secularpriests who served as administrators. These missions and the agricultural systems theyestablished persisted well into the 19th century.

The missions of Moxos were once an important source of cotton textiles, with nativecottons of renowned quality. According to French scholar Alcide dOrbigny, who visitedMoxos in the 1830s, the cotton was as soft as silk, lustrous, and exceptionally fine(DOrbigny 1992). Today, there is very little cotton produced in Moxos and little if any


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export of finished goods with the exception perhaps of a few hammocks. There is certainlya great potential for handcrafted products produced by organically grown native cottonvarieties.

The principal crops of Moxos in the 1830s were (in descending order) cotton, cacao,

tamarind, vanilla, sugar cane, coffee, and native plant oils (Bertholletia, Copaifera, and

Calophyllum). None of these remain as significant regional exports today.

There is little trace today of this agricultural past; abandoned fields have been grown over byforest and skills and arts forgotten. The Rubber Boom from the 1880s to 1910s was thedeath knell to traditional life in the savanna villages and former Missions of Moxos. Therecruitment of men and boys for labor in the forests to the north of the Beni and Pandoled to depopulation and decay of the old lifeways.

Pre-Hispanic Agricultural Systems

If we were to restore the Llanos de Moxos some pristine, pre-Columbian state, say the

way it was one thousand years ago, we would not find an empty, wilderness. The sparselypopulated savannas that today are used as extensive rangelands and generally considered tohave no value as farmland were once the breadbasket of the upper Amazon (see Mann2000).

As estimated by Denevan (1966), the population of the Llanos de Moxos savannas was likelygreater in the pre-contact past than it is today. Instead of being concentrated in a few largecenters, the prehispanic population was more widely dispersed in small villages. Likewise,the agricultural activities and landscapes of Moxos of a thousand years ago were quite unlikethose of today.

Farming was not limited to upland forested sites; in fact, it was primarily an activity of thesavannas and wetlands. One argument for why this was so is simply that given the absenceof stones for axeheads, it was more efficient to work the pampas and create permanent fieldsthan it was to clear forest for moving swiddens. The hydraulic agriculture technologies werewidespread and varied, utilized by distinct cultures including the Moxo, the Movima, theCanichana, the Cayubaba, and the Baure. While hydraulic agriculture, causeways, andmounds were widespread, they had distinct morphologies and functions in each area.

Denevan (1966:90) reasoned that there could well be several hundred thousand fields whichmay occupy as many as 50,000 acres (>20,000 ha) in Moxos. There are likely many morethan Denevans field work and air photo observations suggest. Erickson has found

extensive areas of raised fields under forests and buried beneath sediments in the savannas.It is highly probably that the area once cultivated by raised field technologies doubles ortriples the area currently cultivated.

Essentially, the basic technology was to create raised beds that provided unsaturated soilconditions that allowed crop growth during the flood season. The soil was removed to formcanals between the beds. The canals provided water during the dry season as well as sourceof organic muck and green manure.


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Associated with the agricultural fields were extensive systems ofterraplenes causeways ordikes which likely had multiple functions beyond the management of water. Theseterraplenesare notable landscape features when viewed from the skies as long lines of treesacross the savannas. Denevan (1966:79) estimated that there are well over 1,600 linear km ofthese dikes and causeways in Moxos. Subsequent fieldwork has revealed many more hidden

beneath forested areas. It has been suggested that these dikes were used not just to controlthe quantity of water, but also its quality. Nutrient-rich whitewaters from the Andes mighthave captured managed as a resource used preferentially over the nutrient-poor blackwatersof the savannas.

House and village mounds or lomasare another earthwork feature in Moxos, some risingover 20 m above the natural topography. Most of the several tens of thousands of moundsare now hidden beneath dense forests.

The savannas become very dry during the dry season between June and September orOctober. What was once a sea of water and plants becomes parched and cracked for milesaround. Canals and ditches retain water and perhaps carried it from water bodies, extending

the growing season, the number of harvests, and the available of fresh crop products.

Water hyacinths (Eichhorniaspp., Pontederia subovata), aquatic ferns (Salviniaspp.,Azollaspp.),algae, and cyanobacteria produce large amounts of biomass and fix nitrogen. Thedecomposition of these plants creates organic and nitrogen rich muck which can beharvested and incorporated into the raised bed soils. Alternatively, the plants themselves canbe harvested and incorporated as a green manure.

The canals or ditches between the fields hold open water, which creates habitat for aquaticfauna, including fishes such as Hoplias, Hoplerythrina, and Hoplosternum.These prolific fish canbe harvested as a source of animal protein for the human diet.

Another advantage to savanna farming is that it does not require the deforestation ofwooded areas. Where forest habitat is limited to narrow gallery forests and scattered forestislands, the ability to utilize the extensive savanna is a benefit. Like the are today, the forestsmost certainly represented another whole suite of natural resources such as wood, bark,medicinal plants, edible fruits (Rheedia, Spondias, Pouteria, Chrysophyllum, Genipa, Salacia,Trichilia, Guarea, Inga, Attalea, Bactris, Syagrus, Eugenia, etc.) and wild game (brocket deer,peccaries, monkeys, pacas, agoutis, tapirs, curassows, etc.)

Moxos was not the only region of the Americas where raised field agriculture was practiced.Similar technologies have been found in the Llanos de Apure (Venezuela), the Guayas basin(Ecuador), Cauca (Colombia), the shores of Lake Titicaca (waru-waru, suka kollos), Lerma(Argentina), Coastal Veracruz (Mexico), the Yucatn, and the Valle de Mexico (chinampas).

The Guat peoples of the Pantanal also created mounds (aterros) used for crops, burials, andhome sites. Schmidt (1951) observed agricultural use of the mounds in his fieldwork with theGuat. Organic-rich materials from the surrounding wetlands were collected andincorporated upon the mounds, resulting the accumulation of 50-cm deep humiferousmantles, just as was done in Moxos.


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Potential for Use Today and Tomorrow?

While the locals were well familiar with the more obvious terraplenesand lomas, the raisedfields themselves went essentially unnoticed by anyone until geographer William Denevan

and geologist George Plafker independently flew over Moxos in 1958 and each made theirown rediscovery of these features. Despite some academic interest from geographers andanthropologists in 1960s and 1970s, little attention was paid to the agronomic potential ofthese systems. The first work to consider the utilization of these fields began in the 1980swith Clark Ericksons work around Lake Titicaca. Later, his focus shifted to Moxos wherehe initiated an agro-archaeological project in 1990.

Yields of 25 tons of manioc per hectare, inter-field canals included, have been achieved usingraised field practices on sites considered to be useless for farming by modern practices(Arce 1993). During this study, the raised fields in fact provided the only manioc in the area,because the traditional swidden fields were flooded by exceptional rains.

Raised field agriculture in the lowlands has not been investigated by the national agriculturalresearch institutions. The regional office of the former Instituto Boliviano de TecnologaAgropecuaria had extremely limited and disproportionately resources and consequently littleimpact. Even though Ericksons work clearly demonstrates the potential use of raised fieldtechnologies, it has been difficult to obtain funding and interest in such research.

Ericksons latest work has expanded the range of agricultural practices to include large-scaleaquaculture with a system of earthen fish weirs over a 525 square kilometer area in theBaures subregion of the eastern Llanos de Moxos (Erickson 2000).

Moxos was not the only region of the Americas where raised field agriculture was practiced.Similar technologies have been found in the Llanos de Apure (Venezuela), the Guayas basin(Ecuador), Cauca (Colombia), the shores of Lake Titicaca (waru-waru, suka kollos), Lerma(Argentina), Coastal Veracruz (Mexico), the Yucatn, and the Valle de Mexico (chinampas).

The Guat peoples of the Pantanal also created mounds (aterros) used for crops, burials, andhome sites. Schmidt (1951) observed agricultural use of the mounds in his fieldwork with theGuat. Organic-rich materials from the surrounding wetlands were collected andincorporated upon the mounds, resulting the accumulation of 50-cm deep humiferousmantles, just as was done in Moxos.

The True Agricultural Potential of Moxos?

Some dominant North American scholars have claimed that the Amazon and similar regionswere underdeveloped and sparsely populated because of environmental constraints that wereinsurmountable by human ingenuity. Denevans work countered the prevailing Meggarsschool of thought by demonstrating that the today depopulated tropical flood savannas of


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Moxos were densely populated by advanced agricultural societies in the not-too-distant past.Carrying capacity is culturally and technologically, not environmentally, constrained. Laterwork in the 1960s and early 70s revealed evidence for similar strategies and technologies inother flooded savanna and wetland landscapes in the American tropics.

I contend that nearly all of the land area of the Llanos de Moxos is potentially arableunder some suite of technologies. The pampas of Moxos could become a breadbasket forthe Southwestern Amazon region, without any need for deforestation. The narrow vision ofwhat is possible has lead to misguided attempts to convert forests to fields in the Amazon.

Potentially nearly all land in Moxos is arable, i.e., suitable for the production of plant crops.Bedrock is not a limiting factor. High water tables and inundation can be addressed withhydraulic agricultural practices developed in situ by first peoples of the region. Low nativesoil fertility can be enhanced by the use of green manures and organic mucks.Environmental constraints are not real; they are a state of mind. Humans are limitedonly to the extent that they believe they are limited. The search for new technologies hasnot yielded results for Moxos or the Pantanal. The answers will not be found in a

biotechnology lab in Wisconsin or the Netherlands, but rather underfoot in the richlandscapes.

Modern technology has not provided many solutions for the people of Moxos today. Thereal solutions may have been there all along, covered by grasses and savannas shrubs, silentlyguarding their secrets. If there is to be another Green Revolution, it will come fromwithin. Who should better understand the ecosystems, challenges, and strategies of theregion than those who have been there thousands of years, not just decades or centuries?While there is no written record, nor one cast in stone, the enduring earthworks speakeloquently to those who care to listen.

So what is the real agricultural potential of the Llanos de Moxos? It is certainly more thanthe scant 32,000 hectares cultivated today. It will be whatever the collective society of theregion desires it to be. The only limitation is their to will to return the savannas to theiragriculture past.

Cattle Ranching

Cattle were brought to the Llanos de Moxos by the Jesuit Cipriano Barace in 1686. Hewalked them from Santa Cruz, arriving with 86 head after departing with 200.

Cattle were distributed among each of the Jesuit missions and the herds multiplied rapidly inthe native savannas, grasslands, and wetlands. Their descendents became adapted to theenvironment of Moxos through a process of natural selection. Today, the Criollo Yacumeobreed represents important genetic reources resulting from both natural and human selectionover more than three centuries.

Great wild herds grazed the extensive plains in the 19th century, without fences and, largely,without owners. Titles to harvest cattle were granted by the government as a form of


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payment. Typically, only hides and tallow were harvested; the meat was left to be consumedby the hoards of carrion feeders.

The Rubber Boom, starting in the 1880s, attracted Hispanic men from Santa Cruz to theBeni and Moxos. Many stayed on and acquired land and cattle, forming the foundation of

many of the present-day ranching families.

After World War II, surplus cargo aircraft became available and many landed in Moxos, acritical event in a region without permanent roads to the rest of the world. This made themarkets of the Andes, in particular the mining camps, available for freshly slaughteredcarcasses. New markets meant new profits and new value for land and livestock. This wasthe beginning of the modern era of cattle ranching with fences, corrals, landing strips, etc.

The Moxos plains of the Beni accounted for 3,093,949 (48.3%) of the national cattle herd of6,399,906 head (INE 2001). The Beni occupies just 19.6% of Bolivias national territory of1,098,581 square kilometers, demonstrating a disproportionately high cattle population.The Beni herd increased by nearly 700,000 head over the course of the 1990s from the

2,399,075 censused at the start of that decade.

In the absence of expanding rangelands, an inevitable consequence of population growthand inheritance is the fragmentation of existing ranches into smaller units to each succeedinggeneration. What belonged to one patriarch in 1950 might belong to 25 children andgrandchildren in 2000. It becomes increasingly difficult to adequately manage livestock andrangeland resources on smaller properties. In addition, each generation want more cattle.More cattle on less land tends to equal greater potential for environmental degradation andgreater sensitivity to natural hazards and disease.

The construction of year-round roads linking the Llanos de Moxos with La Paz and Santa

Cruz had unpredicted impacts on agriculture and livestock in Moxos. Instead of shippingslaughterd carcasses by air, live animals could be trucked to Santa Cruz. This led to a shiftfrom the sale of meat to the sale of stocker cattle.

Environmental Impacts of Cattle Ranching in Moxos

The environmental impacts and sustainability of cattle ranching in the American tropicsremain a topic of great debate. In regions such as Moxos, the Pantanal, and the Chaco,livestock impacts are pervasive, yet they are still largely unquantified.

It is not difficult to identify many adverse impacts such as soil compaction, soil erosion,

forest island damage by trampling, manuring, etc.

On the whole, the effects of livestock and fire on the vegetation of Moxos is one ofchanging species composition rather than large scale conversion of vegetation type andphysiognomy. The forest/savanna balance has not been significantly altered on the regionalscale. The areas most susceptible to change are the transitional zones of intermediateelevation between the herbaceous formations and the gallery forests. In these typicallynarrow ecotonal zones, fire and grazing interactions are important. Light grazing results inmore intense fires which maintain a more or less open savanna with palms and fire resistant


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trees (Tabebuia aureaand Pseudobombaxspp.). Heavy grazing reduces fuel loads and fireintensiy, permitting the invasion of spinyMimosasand ultimately the establishment ofwoodlands with species such as Cordia glabrata, Tabebuia ochracea, and Samanea tubulosa.

Deforestation for pasture establishment is of small magnitude in Moxos, generally for small

paddocks for horses or dairy cows. The Africanization of the Moxos savannas has notbeen at all significant as it has in many other American savannas. However, the use of exoticimproved grasses has been slowly increasing Recent estimates indicate that 8% thegrazing lands have with planted grasses.

Trodding in flooded savannas suspends fine soil particles and these slowly driftdowngradient into surface waters and are removed from the savannas. In rainwater flatswhere fluvial sediment inputs are neglible, this could have significant long-term impacts onsoils. Soil compaction by hoof action exacerbates the natural low permeability of the savannasoils by creating compaction pans. We know very little about the historical changes in soilsand landsurfaces and their future trajectories, yet these are important questions foraddressing the sustainability of livestock production systems. Arguably, the compaction

effects may well be stabilized by now. Resting individual rangeland units for 2-3 yearswould likely result in significant amelioration of soil structure and porosity by the naturalbioturbation and shrink-swell processes.

A localized impact of concern is the degradation and even complete destruction of forestislands and areas of gallery forest by over-utilization by cattle. The resultant trampling,manuring, urine, and herbivory can lead to the compaction and toxification of the soil andthe loss of all woody plant cover. Many island would benefit from protection or at least rest.This is of particular concern for islands in the potential range of the endemic blue-throatedmacaw, a Moxos forest island specialist and a species of great ecotourism value.

Bolivia has initiated a nationwide program to erradicate foot and mouth disease and movetowards certification which open new export markets. The US Embassy donated $3 millionU.S. to assist this effort in the Beni. Certification could come as soon as ten years from nowif all programs are successfully implemented. The opening of foreign export markets to beeffrom the Beni could lead to intensification of production and increases in the size of theregional herd. In the absence of policies, programs,and measures to the contrary, there is asignificant potential for increased adverse environmental impacts in the Llanos de Moxosand eslewhere in Bolivia.

Despite the numerous adverse impacts mentioned above, there is reason to believe thatcattle ranching is not an unfavorable land use for the Llanos de Moxos. Alternative models

of development could have led to rather different scenarios. If agriculture were thepreferred altenative, much of the Moxos landscape would be significantly transformed as aresult. However, this line of reasoning has been critiqued, for example by Wilcox (1992).He contends that the impact of ranching in the Pantanal has been negative in balance andthat the environment, not ranching has protected the Pantanal from agriculturaltransformation.

However, as we can readily read from the landcapes of Moxos, flooded savannas andwetlands and savannas are indeed eminently farmable. Wilcoxs argument reeks of neo-


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environmental determinism and ignores the past and human self-determination. Distinctcultures around the world have found strategies for cultivating and farming wetlands andfloodplains by draining, diking, and creating dry land upon raised beds. Where there is a will,there is a way, even in the Pantanal and Moxos.

The reality is that there has not yet been much will to convert the rangelands into fields ofcrops. Few men in Moxos would rather be farmers than cowboys, despite any potentialeconomic forces to the contrary. At best, cattle ranching has been a marginally profitableactivity, but it holds far greater value than can be explained by economics; it is a way of lifeand a source of pride and identity.

Every effort should be made to ensure that cattle ranching on natural rangelands in theLlanos de Moxos, the Pantanal, and the Chaco be both environmentally and economicallysustainable. The research on range and livestock management techniques and theirenvironmental effect in these regions has been pitifully small. National and internationalpolicies should favor cattle production on natural grazing lands and create disincentives forneedless deforestation. The health benefits of natural grass-fed beef are well known and the

cattle associations of these regions should capitalize on this niche by marketing their beef asboth environment-friendly and healthy. The conversion of unplowed savannas, grasslands,and wetlands to crop agriculture leads to generally irreversible impacts that are far greaterthan those of even poorly-managed cattle production. However, much of the Llanos deMoxos were once indeed under crop agriculture. After centuries of post-abandonmentrecovery, the land gives the appearance of wilderness. There is still room for cattle, crops,andconservation in Moxos and its sister regions, but time for planning is running short.

Societal Impacts of Cattle Ranching in Moxos

The uncertainty of land tenure in Moxos results in unnecessary tensions between ranchers,indigenous communities, and agriculturalist communities. The granting of large indigenousterritories in the 1980s and 1990s has not yet clarified the situation.

Jones (1980) concluded that the commercialization of cattle ranching was a primarycontributor to the socio-cultural disintegration of Modern indian culture in Moxos. Cattlemay invade fields of small farmers and communities and destroy subsistence crops. HoweverStearman (1986) reported that the dominance of cattle ranching in the Beni createdconditions beneficial to the remaining Sirion peoples by maintaining large tracts of intactforest and savanna and allowing the Sirion access to these lands for hunting. Stearmanconcluded that the Sirions best chance for survival may be that, in this drama at least, the

cattlemen will successfully hold off the sodbusters.While ranching is the primary economic engine in Moxos, the ranches themselves generatefew employment opportunities due to the low labor demands of extensive cattle ranching.The large cattle ranches with small populations result in highly dispersed rural populationsand low populaiton densities.

Cattle and ranching have become a part of the Moxos culture over the past 300 years, as theyhave in other South American savanna and grassland regions such as the Llanos delOrinoco, the Pantanal, and the Pampas. It is not the just the European or mestizo, but also


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many of the indigenous peoples, who have adopted cattle as an important element in theirlifeways. The Loma Santa messianic indigenous movements in the late 1800s were focusedon a world free from Europeans, but one with free access to cattle.

Wildlife and Fisheries

Rivers and lakes provide the major sources of protein for many peoples of both the Amazonand Paraguay river basins. Studies by the French Overseas Agency (ORSTOM) in the 1980sindicated that the sustainable commercial fishery potential on the Mamor basin of theLlanos de Moxos was far from being reached. The fishery is primarily focused on pac(tambaqui, Colossoma macropoma) and surub (Pseudoplatystomaspp.). Subsistence fishing ispracticed by rural and urban folk alike. Smaller fish such as the bentn (traira, Hopliasmalabaricus) and palometa (yellow-bellied piranha, Serrasalmus nattereri) are important. Inflooded savannas themselves, seasonal fish such as small armored catfish (simbao,buchere) are important for rural families. Many of the ditches and canals created in theprehispanic past are still full of fish today.

One the most surprising interpretations of the archaeological landscapes of Moxos is that, inthe far eastern subregion known as Baures in the Itnez/Guapor sub-basin, the originalpeoples may have used the diked flood savannas as fish farms (Erickson 2000). Erickson hasidentified a 525 km2 area savannas traversed by earthern dikes with v-shaped openings thatmost likely functioned as fish weirs..

Some controversy exists regarding the impact of rangeland fires on aquatic ecosystems.Environmental activists have alleged that ashes in runoff leads to fish kills in rivers in theLlanos de Moxos. Recent work in the Pantanal has not clearly supported this contention(Calheiros and Hamilton 1998); the role of anoxic conditions created by the natural

decomposition of plant matter seems to be of much greater significance. In the Kakaduflood savannas of Australia, ash inputs to aquatic ecosystems have been positively correlatedwith aquatic biodiversity.

Sustainable management and harvest of other native fauna has been under consideration bythe government of the Beni. Significant opportunities exist for meat and leather fromcaiman and capybara harvests under sound management.

Other economic activities

The ecotourism industry in the Llanos de Moxos is still poorly developed. The primarytarget are birdwatchers who come to see the endemic blue-throated macaw (Ara glaucogularis).The Pantanal, by comparison, is far better known to the nature enthusiast or average worldcitizen than the Llanos de Moxos.

The rich archaeology of the region is still little known outside of academic circles. Thisspring, construction of an archaeological museum began in Trinidad. Cattle ranchers in theOrinocan Llanos and the Pantanal have had more success than those of Moxos, perhapssimply because their destinations are much better known. There is a potential for


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partnerships with ecotourism enterprises in the Pantanal and the Chaco, as the regionspresent complementary opportunities as well as interesting similarities. For example, macawenthusiasts have combined trips to the Pantanal with excursions to Moxos, as each regionhas its own endemic macaw of great biodiversity and ecotourism value.

The forests surrouinding and traversing Moxos offer other significant resources not found inthe savannas themselves. The forest at the southern edge of Moxos contain some of the lastsignificant natural reserves of mahagony (Swietenia macrophylla) and other high value tropicalhardwoods. The northern forests are major sources for Brazil nuts, rubber, and medicinals.

Manufacturing, processing, and other industries are very limited. Yet in the past, Moxos wasknown as a producer of fine hand-crafted cotton, leather, and wood products. There is greatpotential for recapturing these lost arts and trades; however, this will require significantinvestments in education and training to develop a skilled labor market.

Threats and Challenges

As discussed previously, land tenure uncertainties create tensions among the localstakeholders which hinder cooperation and progress. The pressures of colonization ofMoxos by displaced peoples from the Andean highlands create all the more tension. In thepast three decades, Andean colonists have made inroads in the southern fringes of Moxos,particularly in the Yucumo zone along the road to La Paz and in the Territorio Indgena-Parque Nacional Isiboro-Scure. In May of 2001, local political figures and interest groups inthe Beni have officiall rejected future settlements in the Beni by Andean colonists. Ifcolonization and immigration is to occur, it should be in line with the visions and plans ofthe stakeholders in the region itself.

The uncertainties of the livestock market and competition from deforestation-based cattleproduction in Santa Cruz creates hardships for the cattle economy of Moxos. Soundnational livestock and rangeland policies are needed to ensure that livestock production isfocused in the regions with the natural conditions most favorable, not simply where there ischeap land for deforestation and the capital to achieve it.

Lack of information on impacts and sustainability of current practices is a significantproblem. There is much disinterest and apathy among the cattle ranchers when sustainableproduction is discussed..

Although Moxos has long been isolated, it is nonetheless part of the global system. Forexample, exotic grains such as wheat and rice have become staples, replacing maize, maniocand plantains as carbohydrate sources. Wheat must be imported, but at least rice can begrown locally. The globalization of diet is a universal phenomenon, creating ever greaterdependency on a global food system and decreasing reliance on local or regional foodsheds.The rural population of the Llanos de Moxos could easily be entirely self-sufficient if it sodesired. Urban populations must rely upon food sold in markets, but community and homegardens can provide significant contributions. Wheat bread and french fries are not neededwherepan de arroz, cuap,yuca frita, andpltano frito are readily available locally (and far more


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delicious!). Eating locally is important to maintaining ones regional and cultural identity,as well as a first step towards greater self-reliance and decreased dependency.

Opportunities

Strong regional identity and traditions

The Llanos de Moxos is still a clearly defined geographic region both physically andculturally. Strengthening the regional identity and traditions, and building off of thefoundations of the past will be critical for the furture of Moxos.

Locally developed and proven agricultural technologies

Food security and self-reliance, as well as protection of its forests can be achieved using thetechnologies developed locally in Moxos by the researchers of past millenia.

Planning

Compared to many regions, Moxos still has many remaining degrees of freedom, time, andspace for making informed decisions about its future. The planning process must begin withthe development of a regional vision that results from consensus-building between thediverse stakeholders of the region. It must also be based on the best available informationabout the land, biodiversity, and agricultural potentials. Regional visions: In the absence of aregional vision, developed through consensus-building activities and dialogues, there can beno meaningful planning.

Regionalized Education

The Fundacin Pedaggica Cultural Amaznica del Beni is just underway with the missionof providing a curriculum and teaching methods that address the realities and needs of thethe region. Education must be made relevant to all peoples of the region. It should alsorespect and reflect the diversity of cultures, languages, and ways of life that comprise theregional culture.

Research on impacts and alternatives

Agricultural, livestock, and range science research and techological development activitieshave been very limited in the Llanos de Moxos. The national agricultural research system

has invested little in the region. In 1999, the Beni received only 2.9% of the national publicinvestment in the agricultural and livestock sector. The local Universidad Tcnica del Beniexists on a shoestring budget, yet it has important veterinary, animal science, and agriculturaldepartments on a national level. International collaboration and cooperation in the Llanosde Moxos that focuses on traditional agricultural technologies and sustainable ranching isneeded.

Marketing


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Sustainable products and activities are winning markets in both the North and South.Consumers are learning the multiple benefits of environmentally sound products and fairexchange systems. Given the small local markets, the productive sectors of Moxos need tomake their products known to national and international target audiences. Similarly, thenascent tourism industry suffers from the near-unknown status of Moxos or the Beni

internationally.

Strategic Partnerships

Local Partnerships

In any region, there will be a diversity of stakeholder groups, each with unique sets ofinterests, needs, and concerns. However, despite their differences, they will also sharecertain commonalities that can serve as the foundations for building mutually beneficialstrategic partnerships among the groups.

In the Llanos de Moxos, the major stakeholder groups include:

Cattle ranchers (ganaderos, estancieros, fazendeiros, etc.)

Indigenous peoples

Agroindustrialists (Soya, cotton, sugar cane, etc.)

Small farmers and livestock raisers (typically mestizo or criollo)

Urban residents and businesses

Environmental organizations

Commercial fishermen

Extra-regional national interests

International interests Recent colonist groups (Andean peasants, Mennonites, etc.)

None of these are unique to Moxos, but rather can be found in the Pantanal, the Chaco, andother regions.

Inter-regional and International Partnerships

Cooperative and collaborative relationships among regions should be developed -- e.g. aMoxos-Chaco-Pantanal International Working Group -- to address common issues andindividual needs.

Moxos, the Pantanal, and Chaco and their original peoples, landscapes, and biota are globallyunique and valuable. They represent some of the "last frontiers" in the Americas. Yet evenso they are all under threat of increasingly rapid change and degradation. Regionalstakeholders must develop the long-term visions of the future of Moxos, the Chaco, and thePantanal, in terms of both human and natural qualities and issues. The present and futureroles of each region within its nation and internationally must be examined.


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Conclusions

The Llanos de Moxos is an ancient cultural landscape that has remained at a low level of

development. The inhabitants have been largely left to their own devices, ignored bynational government and international assistance. There has not yet been a significantinternal migration into this region. Roads have helped little so far. Cattle that were oncesold as finished carcasses to the interior cities are now exported for fattening in Santa Cruzwith agroindustrial byproducts on deforested land.

The Llanos de Moxos and the Pantanal have remained global natural treasures not becauseof the ideas and actions of those priviledged with the luxuries of leisure and the knowledgeof far-off lands, but because the people who have occupied these landscapes for centurieshave desired them to remain as they are, for their own reasons. However, the globalizationprocess has meant that the pressures for change are reaching even once isolated regions.Economic and demographic pressures, both national and international, are putting the future

of these lands and waters at risk.

All of this lack of development has been favorable for the natural landscapes andbiodiversity, but at the cost of low levels of human development.

Agriculture is the management of the environment to increase the production of usefulplants and animals. The first peoples of the Llanos de Moxos developed productiveagricultural systems tailored to the environmental extremes of flood and drought thatcharacterize the region. They engaged in trade relationships with other regions to obtainresources not locally available. National and international agriculture experts have toldBolivia and Moxos that their agricultural potentials are minimal. The archaeological

landscape and recent field trials tell us otherwise.

The cattle introduced by the Jesuits over three centuries ago provided a new means to utilizethe land and obtain protein. Cattle ranching is an indelible element of the regional identityand landscapes of the Llanos de Moxos. While it has some adverse impacts that need to beaddressed, on the whole, it has been beneficial for the maintenance of large tracts ofunplowed and uncleared land and the wildlife and vegetation associated with it.

Self-reliance and sustainability of food production must be enhanced in Moxos and allregions of the world. This does not mean that each region should impose isolationistpolicies, but it does mean that it must regain control of its course of development and its

resources. Fair trade with other regions can be beneficial in provide income and productsnot available locally. Reducing dependencies upon global food systems when localalternatives are available should be a priority for all nations and regions.

The agriculture and cattle traditions are equally important, complementary, and compatiblewith the sustainable development of Moxos. The incorporation of Moxos into the globalsystems have distorted local modes of production. What is needed is a refocusing on localand regional traditions, needs, and identity. The peoples of the Llanos de Moxos must striveto maintain and enhance their self-reliance on locally produced foodstuffs and products


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while they seek to increase their participation in fair and sustainable global and regional tradesystems.

Literature Cited

Arce, J. 1993.Evaluacin y comparacin de rendimientos de cuatro cultivos en tres anchuras de camellones

(campos elevados) en la Estacin Biolgica del Beni (Prov. Ballivin, Dpto. del Beni). Thesis.Universidad Tcnica del Beni: Trinidad.

Calheiros, D.F. and Hamilton, S.K. 1998. Limnological conditions associated with naturalfish kills in the Pantanal wetland (Baa do Castelo, Paraguay River, Brazil). Verh.Internat. Verein. Limnol. 26: 2189-2193.

Denevan, W. M. 1966. The aboriginal cultural geography of the Llanos de Mojos of Bolivia.Ibero-Americana48:1-160.

Erickson, C. 2000. An artificial landscape-scale fishery in the Bolivian Amazon. Nature

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Instituto Nacional de Estadstica. 2001. (http://www.ine.gov.bo)

Jones, J.C. 1980. Conflict between whites and indians in the Llanos de Moxos, Beni Department: a case

study in development from the cattle regions of the Bolivian Oriente. Ph. D. dissertation,University of Florida, Gainesville.

Mann, C. 2000. Earthmovers of the Amazon. Science287:786-789.

Pacheco, D. and Miranda, H.A. 2000. Dinmica socioeconmica y uso del suelo elDepartamento del Beni. Las tierras bajas de Bolivia a fines del siglo XX. Fundacin Tierrra:La Paz.

Scmidt, M. 1951. Anotaciones sobre las plantas de cultivo y los mtodos de agricultura delos indgenas sudamericanos. Revista do Museo Paulista5:239-252.

Stearman, A.M. 1986. Territory folks. Natural History95:6-10.

Steininger, M.K., Tucker. C.J., Townshend, J.R.G., Killeen, T.R., Desch, A., Bell, V., andPeter Ernst, P. 2001. Tropical deforestation in the Bolivian Amazon. EnvironmentalConservation(in press).

Wilcox, R. 1992. Cattle and environment in the Pantanal of Mato Grosso, Brazil, 1870-1970.Agricultural History66: 232-56.

Documents

Langstroth 2001 - Lessons From Moxos