Andrea B. Chavez Michaelsen, Department of Geography, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 13244. E-mail: abchavez@maxwell.syr.edu. Use of Remote Sensing for Monitoring Land Use in Indigenous Territories in the Peruvian Amazon

Indigenous areas in Southeastern Peruvian Amazon are increasingly exposed to
developmental changes. Changes as a consequence of extractive economic activities may impact the region in terms of soil degradation, deforestation, migration and group conflicts. How can the scientific community and policy makers best evaluate these changes? The use of technical tools such as the analysis of satellite imagery can serve as a complement to field level analysis in monitoring impacts of land use change in indigenous territories. GOES (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite) data detect so-called "hot pixels", which are interpreted as burning activities. Fire pixels can be located and classified every 15 minutes. Why analyze fire regimes? Due to the normal weather conditions of the humid tropics, fire is not a natural process and therefore a good indicator of human activities. This research will draw on hot pixels measured during the years 1997-1999 in southeastern Peru to attempt to identify human activities occurring in nearby indigenous territories. Further, the preliminary results call for complementary field level analysis in order to link fire detection with on the ground processes. With the monitoring data results, policy measures could be adapted and used for evaluating land use changes in remote areas such as indigenous territories. The conclusions will try to show that GIS/remote sensing tools are valuable devices for understanding complex scenarios related to the change in indigenous land use.

Keyword: indigenous land use change, remote sensing, hot pixels, Latin America