Land Use

The incorporation of the lands to the market economy and commercial use of the natural resources of the River Madeira basin are the result of the colonial occupation which led to fierce disputes and international agreements which were not always respected. The Rondônia lands belonged to the Spanish colonial area until 1750, the year in which the Treaty of Madrid replaced that of Tordesilhas.
The occupation of the land with the support of the government and the exploitation of spices are tied to the start of colonization, particularly Portuguese.

The exploitation of rubber boosted the population between 1850 and 1920 and was linked to the construction of the Madeira-Mamoré railway between 1872 and 1912. Mining led to another large cycle of migration from the second half of the 20th century. The opening of BR-364 highway in 1961 created conditions for agricultural expansion and led to the cutting of the forest. Deforestation continues today along the River Madeira in areas used for subsistence cultivation and pasture.

Pastures
The pasture lands along the banks of the River Madeira cover approximately 10.35% of the area to be flooded by the Santo Antônio reservoirs. Cattle-raising is an important economic activity for the population throughout Rondônia and there were more than 560,000 head of cattle in the Porto Velho area in 2007.

Fishing
The richness and abundance of fish species in the Madeira are also of great economic importance. Fishing has always been a common activity in the region and provides a livelihood for the river dwellers, along with farming, hunting and mining. Various kinds of fisherman appeared from the second half of the 20th century on, including the itinerant small fisherman who fishes along the large stretches of the river and sells his product in the city centers, the traditional subsistence fisherman and visitors and tourists who practice sports fishing as a leisure activity.

Crops
Açaí berry, peach palm, cupuaçu, mango, cashew, cajá, oranges, guava, biriba, jackfruit and genipap are among the perennial plants most grown along the River Madeira. There are also rubber plantations left over from the end of the rubber cycle, and large walnut trees. Manioc plantations are also very common. Green vegetables, string beans and water melons are planted in the fertile gullies of the river during the dry period.






Fishing Ports
Porto Velho is the largest port in Rondônia but fish are also landed and sold in Cachoeira do Teotônio, Jaci-Paraná, Nova Mamoré, Abunã, Fortaleza do Abunã and Guajará-Mirim. The production of fish in the Madeira is variable and the amount depends on the size of the flooding.

Extractive industries
Extractive activities are important for the regional economy and are a source of income for some of the local people, not just those who live on the riverbanks. The collection of nuts, the extraction of wood and latex and fishing are some of the main activities while the presence of sawmills highlights the demand for wood. There are two springs from which mineral water is obtained on the right bank of the River between the communities of Santo Antônio and Teotônio which is bottled locally.

Gold
The main mineral which is exploited in the River Madeira region is gold. Rafts and dredgers can be seen along the riverbed transporting the metal from the alluvial beds to the surface and stirring up the sediment. Prospecting for gold along the River Madeira began at the start of the 1970s. The Ministry of Mines and Energy created the Rio Madeira Prospector Reserve in 1979 which reached the peak of production at the beginning of the 1980s. Gold mining in the state has been declining since the start of the 1990s.