The research grew out of a collaboration between the University of East Anglia and the LASAT at the Laboratório Sócio-Agronômico do Tocantins of the Universidade Federal do Pará. Research centred on the region around Marabá in Pará State . This region in eastern Amazonia has communities, or localities, which have been settled for up to 25 years. Although characterised as ‘aging frontier’ settlements and localities exhibit a diversity of environmental, social and economic conditions. By monitoring farms in three localities our research was able to capture a range of different aspects of localities of different ‘ages’ within the region.

The research involved a close collaboration and working relationship with Brazilian researchers and with small farmers and their organisation in Marabá. We sought specifically to investigate farmers’ own knowledge and perceptions of the environment, the changes as the frontier evolved, and their strategies of coping in this dynamic situation. The approach to research was participatory in nature and involved building partnerships with farmers and farmers organisations, through a series of workshops and meetings and continuous process of feedback of findings and information to farmers.

Livestock are important components of smallholder farming systems. The profitability depends on a number of factors, but their contribution to family income depends critically on the access to markets for dairy products in addition to meat. In areas where farmers can sell fresh milk there is an incentive to specialise the farming systems and intensify livestock production. Depending on pasture management strategies, this may have positive or negative impacts on sustainability.

This study identifies indicators of sustainability at farm level and at locality level. The four key indicators at the farm level are:

• Forest cover: forest acts as a nutrient bank; maintains ecological functions and biodiversity; a source of food and income; a natural buffer against fire or diseases.
• Income: a good indicator of family wellbeing, particularly when comparing farms within the same locality.
• Agrodiversity: represents different sources of food, income, flexible labour demand and safeguard to oscillations in prices and productions levels
• Pasture quality: an indicator of longterm productivity.

Of these pasture quality is the critical component of system sustainability. We identified three different models of pasture management employed by farmers in the region, and their implications for longterm productivity. Contrary to received wisdom a major problem with pasture management is under utilisation ; low stocking rates result in accumulation of dry matter and increased weeds, which then make use of fire necessary. Pasture becomes less productive under these regimes. With more intensive management; improved forage, better planned rotations, farmers could save labour and land.

In order to facilitate the adoption of improved husbandry and pasture management, further research, and more effective dissemination of information to farmers is necessary. Innovations have already begun as a result of our research, including use of mineral supplements and health practices.

From our findings we are able to make recommendations for further work on developing specific indicators of changes in pasture quality which could be usefully adopted by farmers. Ultimately the use of such indicators could enable farmers to intensify livestock production (given external factors) without rapid conversion of forest cover on farms. This is potentially a significant contribution to household welfare and environmental management at the forest agriculture interface.