Large-scale Degradation of the Tocantins-Araguaia River Basin.
Fernando Mayer PeliciceAngelo Antonio AgostinhoAlberto AkamaJosé Dilermando Andrade FilhoValter M Azevedo-SantosMarcus Vinicius Moreira BarbosaLuis Mauricio BiniMarcelo Fulgêncio Guedes BritoCarlos Roberto Dos Anjos CandeiroÉrica Pellegrini CaramaschiPriscilla CarvalhoRodrigo Assis de CarvalhoLeandro CastelloDavi Borges das ChagasCarine Cavalcante ChamonGuarino Rinaldi ColliVanessa Salete DagaMurilo Sversut DiasJosé Alexandre Felizola Diniz FilhoPhilip FearnsideWagner de Melo FerreiraDiego Azevedo Zoccal GarciaTiago Kutter KrolowRodrigo Ferreira KrugerEdgardo Manuel LatrubesseDilermando Pereira Lima JuniorSolange de Fátima LolisFabyano Alvares Cardoso LopesRafael Dias LoyolaAndré Lincoln Barroso MagalhãesAdriana MalvasioPaulo De MarcoPedro Ribeiro MartinsRosana MazzoniJoão Carlos NaboutMário Luis OrsiAndre Andrian PadialHasley Rodrigo PereiraThiago Nilton Alves PereiraPhamela Bernardes PerônicoMiguel PetrereRenato Torres PinheiroEtiene Fabbrin PiresPaulo Santos PompeuThiago Costa Gonçalves PortelinhaEdson Eyji SanoVagner Leonardo Macedo Dos SantosPaloma Helena Fernandes ShimabukuroIdelina Gomes da SilvaLucas Barbosa E SouzaFrancisco Leonardo Tejerina-GarroMariana Pires de Campos TellesFabrício Barreto TeresaSidinei Magela ThomazLivia Helena TonellaLudgero Cardoso Galli VieiraJean Ricardo Simões VituleJansen ZuanonPublished in: Environmental management (2021)
The Tocantins-Araguaia Basin is one of the largest river systems in South America, located entirely within Brazilian territory. In the last decades, capital-concentrating activities such as agribusiness, mining, and hydropower promoted extensive changes in land cover, hydrology, and environmental conditions. These changes are jeopardizing the basin's biodiversity and ecosystem services. Threats are escalating as poor environmental policies continue to be formulated, such as environmentally unsustainable hydropower plants, large-scale agriculture for commodity production, and aquaculture with non-native fish. If the current model persists, it will deepen the environmental crisis in the basin, compromising broad conservation goals and social development in the long term. Better policies will require thought and planning to minimize growing threats and ensure the basin's sustainability for future generations.