Do castanhal às fazendas de gado: dinâmicas espaciais em São Geraldo do Araguaia-Pará

Abstract

The research area of this master's thesis is dubbed Fortaleza, located in the municipality of São Geraldo do Araguaia/PA, an old chestnut grove area located in the Castanhais Polygon of southeastern Pará. These chestnut plantations were appropriated in the 1920s by families linked to the government of Pará, known as chestnut oligarchies, as they controlled the extraction and trade of Brazil's nuts. From the 1960s onwards, the creation of SUDAM, the discovery of iron in Carajás, the opening of roads, the Araguaia guerrilla and other events that occurred in the southeast of Pará led to the decline of Brazil nut extraction and chestnut plantations, including Fortaleza's chestnut grove, are disputed through violent conflicts between oligarchies, farmers and squatters. After the end of disputes over chestnut plantations, they all become settlement projects (PA) and are later cut down and transformed into pastures for cattle farms. In relation to Fortaleza's chestnut grove, a village was formed where the grove's headquarters was located. With this in mind, the question arises: how did the transition from Fortaleza's chestnut grove to the Fortaleza's village and nearby cattle farms occur? What elements of the landscape and spatial configuration may indicate this transition? Therefore, this master thesis analyzes the spatial dynamics, as changes and permanence, from the Fortaleza's chesnut forest to the Fortaleza's village and cattle farms in São Geraldo do Araguaia/PA, specifically, it aims to understand how this transition occurred and which elements of the landscape and spatial configuration indicate such a process. The analysis of this master's research is based on the notion of transition and geographic situation, therefore, the analytical method focuses on three moments: initial geographic situation – SG1 centered on the extraction of Brazil nuts and the Fortaleza chestnut grove; transition where wood extraction and livestock farming has prevailed; the current geographical situation – SG2 facing the farms and the village of Fortaleza.