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In this paper we are interested on subsistence fishing practiced by riparian Amazonian populations. The results presented, concerning the traditional knowledge of inhabitants, their perceptions about the environmental changes and the evolution of fishery resources as well as the some solutions regarding these changes, derived from two surveys administated to twelve communities of the Tapajós Basin. These results shed new light on issues related to the management of fisheries resources and highlight the gaps preventing a real appropriation of environmental problems and the emergence of local solutions. Indeed, we show that deforestation and erosion of river banks were perceived as the major environmental changes observed over the time. The decrease in abundance and/or reduction in the sizes of fish was also been reported by respondents. The lack of connection between the observed changes in natural ecosystems and changes in fish stocks caught our attention. Consequently, any intervention aimed at developing and/or implementing of methods for sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources must integrate preliminary activity information. The intention is to generate local ownership of environmental issues and encourage the emergence of solutions within the communities concerned.

Pressures on the Brazilian Amazon forest have been accentuated by agricultural activities practiced by families encouraged to settle in this region in the 1970s by the colonization program of the government. The aims of this study were to analyze the temporal and spatial evolution of land cover and land use (LCLU) in the lower Tapajós region, in the state of Pará. We contrast 11 watersheds that are generally representative of the colonization dynamics in the region. For this purpose, Landsat satellite images from three different years, 1986, 2001, and 2009, were analyzed with Geographic Information Systems. Individual images were subject to an unsupervised classification using the Maximum Likelihood Classification algorithm available on GRASS. The classes retained for the representation of LCLU in this study were: (1) slightly altered old-growth forest, (2) succession forest, (3) crop land and pasture, and (4) bare soil. The analysis and observation of general trends in eleven watersheds shows that LCLU is changing very rapidly. The average deforestation of old-growth forest in all the watersheds was estimated at more than 30% for the period of 1986 to 2009. The local-scale analysis of watersheds reveals the complexity of LCLU, notably in relation to large changes in the temporal and spatial evolution of watersheds. Proximity to the sprawling city of Itaituba is related to the highest rate of deforestation in two watersheds. The opening of roads such as the Transamazonian highway is associated to the second highest rate of deforestation in three watersheds.

There is a paucity of research about how the policies enacted by states either foster or hinder charter schools’ service to disadvantaged students or how the characteristics of charter schools themselves affect this outcome. By combining data from the US Department of Education’s Schools and Staffing Survey with data on the characteristics of state charter school policies, this article examines how different types of charter schools respond to the policy and market signals established by state charter legislation, and the impact of such signals on the willingness and ability of charter schools to serve disadvantaged student populations. With a sample of 533 charter schools in 13 states, models are estimated to discern whether specific state policies and whether being managed by two types of for-profit educational management organizations (EMOs)—large and small ones—encourages or discourages schools from enrolling low-income and minority students. The results suggest that certain policy characteristics are important for encouraging schools to serve low-income and minority students. Specifically, having multiple chartering authorities and requiring the transportation of students are important for explaining charter schools’ service to low-income and minority students. Being managed by a large-EMO was positively but not significantly related to charter schools enrollment of low-income and minority students. The results differed for small-EMO managed schools. Small-EMOs served significantly lower percentages of minority students. The results suggest that not all charter schools are the same and that policy design and organizational form matters for determining whom charter schools will serve.