2014-10-202014-10-202009MONTEIRO, Maurilio de Abreu; COELHO, Maria Célia Nunes; SILVA, Regiane Paracampos da. Changes in the relationship between society and nature in the Mezzo-region of Southeastern Pará, Amazon, Brazil. Acta Amazonica, Manaus, v. 39, n. 4, p. 879-887, 2009. Disponível em: http://repositorio.ufpa.br/jspui/handle/2011/5892. Acesso em:.1809-4392https://repositorio.ufpa.br/handle/2011/5892With this work, the authors wish to show some of the alterations in the pattern of relations between society and nature, which have taken place throughout the 20th century in the Parauapebas and Itacaiúnas river valleys, as well as in parts of the Tocantins River valley, in southeastern Pará. This is accomplished through descriptions based on Coudreau's first-hand accounts (1889), transcribed in "Voyage a Itaboca et a L'Itacayuna", published in 1897, which depicts an area almost totally covered by forest. This is followed by a counter view made possible through the LandSat 5 satellite sensors, with images of those valleys in 2001, showing the consequences of society transformations and pressure on natural resources, and above all the dramatic decrease in the size of the forest, reduced to 52 percent of the 63,000 square kilometers analyzed herein.engAcesso AbertoAmazôniaMudanças espaciaisRecursos naturaisVale do TocantinsVale do ItacaiúnasSpatial changesNatural resourcesTocantins River ValleyItacaiúnas River ValleyArtigo de Periódicohttp://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0044-59672009000400016