Bolivian Deforestation Timelapse

The rainforest in Santa Cruz, Bolivia has undergone major deforestation since the 1980’s to make way for resettlement and agricultural projects. The pinwheel-patterned fields seen here follow the San Javier resettlement scheme, with each pinwheel containing a central community that includes a church, bar/café, school, and soccer field. The light-colored areas of the formations are primarily fields of soybeans, and the dark lines running through the fields are “windbreaks” that prevent the erosion of the area’s unusually fine soil.

Source imagery: Google Timelapse / Planet