Indigenous territory maintains ecological stability amid agricultural expansion in the Brazilian savanna
"An island of biodiversity in a sea of monoculture": This is how a recent study characterized the Pimentel Barbosa Indigenous Territory (TIPB), located in the northeastern part of Mato Grosso state in Brazil's Central-West region. The study showed that the area's human occupation patterns and vegetation cover have remained largely unchanged for four decades. Meanwhile, the surrounding area has…
In a recent study, the Pimentel Barbosa Indigenous Territory (TIPB) in Brazil's Central-West region has been identified as an island of biodiversity amidst extensive agricultural expansion. The 329,000-hectare territory has maintained its original landscape, dominated by savanna formations, forest fragments and wetlands, for the past four decades.
In contrast, surrounding areas have undergone significant transformation due to the expansion of livestock ranching, soybean farming and construction of major highways (BR-158 and BR-163). The TIPB is home to 2,369 people of the A uwẽ Xavante ethnic group, who obtained official recognition of their land in 1986. The study, led by Isabella Coelho de Oliveira, highlights three phases of landscape transformation: the basal phase (1985-1995), marked by native vegetation; the transitional phase (1996-2012), characterized by deforestation and expansion of pastures; and the consolidation phase (2013-2024), dominated by agroindustrial land uses such as soybean cultivation and large-scale livestock farming.
The research, published in Geocarto International, received the Scientific Merit Award at the 32nd Congress on Scientific Initiation at the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP). Fieldwork, including four research stays on the indigenous land, was crucial for understanding the territorial situation and empowering the Xavante community to create their own maps and defend their land.
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