Ecuador’s Tropical Forest Frontiers: Some Historical and Recent Aspects of Settlement and Agricultural Expansion

The expansion of the agricultural frontier into tropical forests in Latin America is frequently seen as a monolithic process which is similarly occurring across countries in the region, particularly within the Amazon Basin. Differences in frontier dynamics within the region have not been extensively explored. A better understanding of the processes and patterns which continue to shape the development and use of Latin America's tropical forests, however, requires a better understanding of the different as well as similar forces affecting them. Discussion below responds to this need by considering the different patterns of agricultural expansion which have characterised tropical forest regions within one country, Ecuador. Ecuador is often described as an Andean country, but like many other South American nations whose post-colonial history has unfolded primarily in the highlands, it also encompasses significant areas of tropical forest. Ecuador, in fact, contains two tropical forest regions or 'frontiers' which have been subject to agricultural expansion and sett1ement l . These regions include (1) coastal tropical forests to the west of the Andes which border on the Pacific Ocean and (2) a much vaster Amazon tropical forest area to the east of the Andes which has recently become a major oi1producing centre in recent decades (see Figure 1). Given these two distinct tropical forest regions, we ask the question, "What are the common as well as differing factors which have shaped agricultural expansion in them?" Discussion below compares and contrasts some of the macro-level structural and policy-related factors which have historically affected agricultural frontier expansion in Ecuador's two tropical forest region. We build upon previous detailed historical reviews (especially Bromley, 1981; PichOn, 1992; Rudel, 1993; Trujillo, 1988; and Uquillas, 1984), but aim to undertake more extensive comparative consideration between coastal and Amazon areas than has previously occurred.