Deforestation and Carbon Loss in Southwest Amazonia: Impact of Brazil\u2019s Revised Forest Code

Pedro Augusto Costa Roriz,Aurora Miho Yanai,Philip Martin Fearnside

doi:10.1007/s00267-017-0879-3

Pedro Augusto Costa Roriz, Aurora Miho Yanai + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-017-0879-3

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Abstract

In 2012 Brazil’s National Congress altered the country’s Forest Code, decreasing various environmental protections in the set of regulations governing forests. This suggests consequences in increased deforestation and emissions of greenhouse gases and in decreased protection of fragile ecosystems. To ascertain the effects, a simulation was run to the year 2025 for the municipality (county) of Boca do Acre, Amazonas state, Brazil. A baseline scenario considered historical behavior (which did not respect the Forest Code), while two scenarios considered full compliance with the old Forest Code (Law 4771/1965) and the current Code (Law 12,651/2012) regarding the protection of “areas of permanent preservation” (APPs) along the edges of watercourses. The models were parameterized from satellite imagery and simulated using Dinamica-EGO software. Deforestation actors and processes in the municipality were observed in loco in 2012. Carbon emissions and loss of forest by 2025 were computed in the three simulation scenarios. There was a 10% difference in the loss of carbon stock and of forest between the scenarios with the two versions of the Forest Code. The baseline scenario showed the highest loss of carbon stocks and the highest increase in annual emissions. The greatest damage was caused by not protecting wetlands and riparian zones.Graphical

Highlights

The Forest Code and Its Political ContextThe Brazilian Forest Code, as amended in 2012 (Table 1), reduces the “areas of permanent preservation” (APPs)” on the banks of watercourses and around their headwaters
The aim of the present study was to quantify potential impacts on deforestation resulting from the changes in the Brazilian Forest Code and estimate the loss of carbon stock in the municipality of Boca do Acre, located in the southwestern portion of Brazilian Amazonia
The largest reduction in carbon stocks occurred in the Baseline Scenario, a reduction equivalent to 3.74% of the initial inventory (542.95 × 106 MgC)

Summary

Introduction

The Forest Code and Its Political ContextThe Brazilian Forest Code, as amended in 2012 (Table 1), reduces the “APP” on the banks of watercourses and around their headwaters. The new rules that compute APP boundaries by measuring from the edges of watercourses eliminate protection of the floodplain (várzea) and, transitional environments between flooded and non-flooded ecosystems. These environments are of great importance to biogeochemical cycles and to the survival of various species (Piedade et al 2012). When landscapes are heavily deforested, APPs along watercourses provide forest corridors connecting the remaining forest fragments, allowing movement of both animals and plants among fragments (de Marco and Coelho 2004). This is vital to maintaining biologically viable populations. Riparian vegetation reduces the amount of sediment deposited in rivers and the incidence of floods (Tundisi and Tundisi 2010)

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