Amazonia as a “manufactured landscape”?

 
Views on Amazonia as an untouched, virgin ecosystem have gradually changed with the exploration of archeological sites and the emergence of records of long-term human occupation. However, Bush and Silman in their article ‘Amazonian exploitation revisited: ecological assymetry and the policy pendulum’ (2007) warn that the popular new paradigm of Amazonia as a “manufactured landscape” should be used with caution as it has important implications on conservation and policy approaches.

Bush and Silman writes that the size of indigenous human population at the time of European arrival is estimated around 11 million, which gradually but drastically declined following contact with Europeans. Archeological findings prove that some sites in the region were occupied for several thousand years. The paper cites Balée (1989) who estimates that up to 11% of Amazonian vegetation was used and altered by pre-Columbian occupants. Evidence of human occupation can be obtained from pollen, charcoal and phytolith data, all of which, in case of the Amazon region, indicate widespread human occupation prior to European contact. There are, however, differing views regarding the extent to which these indigenous inhabitants modified their environment. The analysis of Bush and Silman concludes that while some areas with extensive settlements – mostly around main river channels and highly seasonal areas – were altered by pre-Columbian occupants, influences on ecosystems were very local and most of Amazonia was minimally impacted.

In addition, Bush et al. (2007) points out, it can be challenging to determine whether past ecosystem changes in Amazonia were due to direct human influence (e.g. direct deforestation), indirect human influence (e.g. introduction of diseases), natural causes (such as drought), or a combination of these.

Understanding the history of human disturbance in the Amazon region can not only aid effective conservation and policy making but, as Bush and Silman (2007) notes, is essential to avoid overestimation of the ‘manufactured landscape’ label as “policy that assumes such resilience may cause substantial and long-lasting ecological damage”.