ABSTRACT
The massive conversion of forest lands to livestock grazing is part of a broader transformation of agriculture from the production of basic food crops towards commercial crops for export or animal feed. Development, whether on a national or regional level, is a dual process of enrichment and structural change. On the one hand, if successful, it raises incomes by using resources more intensively and accumulating additional resources to further increase production. On the other hand, it transforms productive structures, initially shifting resources from primary production to industrial transformation and then contributing to an explosion of the service sector. The conversion of forest lands for pasture in Latin America is another stratagem for the appropriation of nature to accelerate capital accumulation. Historically, the human settlements in the forest areas have developed a diversified productive system which combines a variety of cultivation techniques with hunting and gathering to assure their livelihood.
