Livestock Management Within a Traditional Agrosilvopastoral System in Northern Minas Gerais, Brazil: A Model for Reconciling Livelihoods and Conservation at a Time of Environmental Change

Abstract

We examine the ongoing transformation of the livestock raising component of a complex agrosilvopastoral management system associated with the Geraizeiro of northern Minas Gerais state, Brazil. Increasing droughts and regional climate change, associated with large-scale corporate enclosures of upland rangelands and conversion to eucalyptus plantations for industrial charcoal production have undermined solta, a customary form of extensive cattle raising and centerpiece of Geraizeiro lifeways. In response, farmers are adapting and transforming another, more intense form of livestock raising associated with managed agroforestry in lower-lying areas, manga. Using a social-ecological systems approach and drawing on extensive interviews and ecological inventories, we consider such changes within the overall integrity of the system, suggesting the need to reconsider the role of the Geraizeiros and their use of cattle and fire as a potentially useful tool in reconciling livelihoods and conservation, particularly amidst accelerating social and environmental change and the concomitant threats to the savanna biocultural biome.