Rondônia's Deforestation Story: Amazon's Most Transformed State
Rondônia has the most dramatic deforestation history of any Amazon state — from nearly intact forest in 1970 to 30% cleared by 2000; the colonisation story, visible from satellite, is the Amazon's environmental crisis in concentrated form
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BR-364: The Road That Changed Amazon History
The BR-364 highway connecting Porto Velho to Cuiabá—opened in 1984 with World Bank financing—triggered Brazil's largest colonization program and the Amazon's fastest deforestation; the herringbone pattern of roads is visible from space
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POLONOROESTE Colonization
The POLONOROESTE program – settling landless farmers from southern Brazil in Rondônia along the BR-364 – created communities but at devastating ecological costs; it became a landmark in the development banks' environmental policy
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Chico Mendes and Acre Connection
Rubber tapper Chico Mendes – murdered in 1988 – organized resistance to deforestation in neighboring Acre; his murder drew international attention to the Amazon's social-ecological crisis
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Satellite Deforestation Monitoring
Brazil's INPE (Space Research Institute) in São José dos Campos developed the PRODES deforestation satellite monitoring system that provides real-time data on Amazon clearing; The Rondônia data was the system's first major use
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Forest Recovery Initiatives
The Rondônia forests that were cleared for pasture and then abandoned – acidic soils unable to support livestock – are recovering naturally in some areas; replanting program contributes to natural rejuvenation
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Colonization Towns of the Frontier
The cities of Rondônia — Ji-Paraná, Cacoal, Rolim de Moura — were built from scratch in the 1970s by settlers; their planned grid layouts, often in cleared forest, are the physical legacy of the colonization program