New book about national parks in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)
Jose Drummond, an associate professor of political science at the Universidade Federal Fluminense ((Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), has released a new book, written in Portuguese, about Rio de Janeiro's environmental changes and its four national parks. The book is entitled "Devastacao e Preservacao Ambiental no Rio de Janeiro - os Parques Nacionais do Estado do Rio de Janeiro" [Devastation and Preservation in Rio de Janeiro - the National Parks of the State of Rio de Janeiro". It is in part based on his Master's thesis at The Evergreen State College (Olympia, WA, US), in which he examined Rio's national parks as case studies of a detailed examination of Brazil's preservation and conservation policies since the 1930s.
The first part of the book is an environmental history of forest resource uses in the state of Rio de Janeiro, from early Native American groups until late 19th century coffee plantations. The current state of Rio de Janeiro was until de early 1600s 97% covered with tropical, dense, evergreen, humid forests. The elimination of most of this original floral cover was a small part of the more extensive erasure of Brazil' Atlantic Forest biome - the largest continuous stretch of tropical forests known to have been destroyed anywhere in historical times. Using evidence and insights from the fields of archeology, anthropology, hstory, economy, botany and ecology, the author shows how the state's forests were sumitted to human uses that were progressively more numerous and more intruding. The "last" of such uses were the extensive coffee plantations of the 19th century, which demanded extensive clearcutting and contributed to erode soils and silt rivers, reaching an unprecedented degree of destructiveness.
The second part of he book presents specific environmental histories and policy analyses of each of Rio de Janeiro state's four national parks, cretaed between 1937 and 1971. It is shown that these parks have a depleted natural heritage and chronic managerial problems, both related to the policy decision of locating parks in such a recently and intensively used region. Each park's specific administrative and social history shows the legacy of depeletion inside units designed to preserve what had been previously changed in a radical manner. Even though, the text shows the resilient or naturally restored natural features that can be found in each unit.
One chapter from the second part of the was published, in an adapted version, in Environmental History, (January 1996), with the title "The Garden in the Machine".
Professor Drummond's book is available through the Editora da Universidade Federal Fluminense (phone and fax 55-21-6208080, ext 200 and 353), in Niteroi, state of Rio de Janeiro. It can also be purchased through Booknet (http://www.booknet.com.br). Its price is listed as 24 reais (royghly 25 US dollars) and has 306 pages.
Anyone wishing to contact the author about this publication or about its subject matters can send him an email message, or use his address or phone listed below.
Jose Drummond, Adjunct Professor
Dep. of Political Science, Universidade Federal Fluminense
Email: jdrummond@trip.com.br
Phone: 55-21-2628857 (h), 55-21-6205194, 55-21-7198012, 55-21-7172244 (w)
Rua Tenente Possolo, 24/303
Centro 20230-160
Rio de Janeiro - RJ Brazil
Home |
About |
Advertise! |
Books |
Central America |
Ecotourism |
Headlines
Learn Spanish |
Mexico |
Media |
Site Map |
South America |
World Travel |
Updates