Land Use, Land Cover Change and Sustainable Intensification of Agriculture and Livestock in the Amazon and the Atlantic Forest in Brazil

Júlia Graziela Da Silveira,Fernanda Figueiredo Granja Dorilêo Leite,Melissa Silva Leme Dalarme,Renato De Oliveira Marques,Marcela Cardoso Guilles Da Conceição,Fernanda Reis Cordeiro,Ana Carolina Barbosa Do Canto,Luís Tadeu Assad,Sílvio Nolasco De Oliveira Neto,Gabriela Cristina Costa Silva,Renato De Aragão Ribeiro Rodrigues,Isabel Gouvea Maurício Ferreira

doi:10.3390/su14052563

Abstract

The Amazon and the Atlantic Forest are Brazilian biomes that suffered an intense land use and land cover change, marked by the loss of native forest and expansion of agriculture and livestock. This article aims to analyze land use and land cover change history and to propose a sustainable alternative for agriculture and livestock as an opportunity for rural development in these biomes. The statistics of the platform from the Annual Mapping Project for Land Use and Land Cover in Brazil (MapBiomas) were used in an annual historical series from 1985 to 2020. The analysis of land use and land cover changes indicates that the Amazon native forest was reduced by 44.53 million hectares (Mha), while pasture, agriculture and planted forest increased by 38.10, 6.06 and 0.26 Mha, respectively, over the 35 years (1985 to 2020). In the Atlantic Forest, for the same period, forest and pasture reduced by 0.99 and 11.53 Mha, respectively, while agriculture expanded by 8.06 Mha and planted forest by 2.99 Mha. Sustainable land use strategies, such as the Integration Crop-Livestock-Forest (ICLF), can support the increase in agricultural production while recovering and preserving the environment. Policies and programs should consider regional particularities and barriers for more significant adoption of this strategy.

Highlights

70% of the earth’s surface has already undergone some type of anthropogenic alteration, converting native forests for agricultural production, infrastructure, and urban use [1]
The Atlantic Forest extends from Rio Grande do Norte to Rio Grande do Sul, comprising 3082 municipalities and an area greater than
We considered six land use and land cover classes, according to level 2 of the land cover and use classification system for MapBiomas in Brazil [41], as to level 2 of the land cover and use classification system for MapBiomas in Brazil [41], as follows: (1) Native forest (includes forest formation, savanna formation, mangrove and follows: (1) Native forest; (2) pasture; (3) agriculture; (4) forest plantation; (5) mosaic of agriculture and pasture and; (6) other land uses

Summary

Introduction

70% of the earth’s surface has already undergone some type of anthropogenic alteration, converting native forests for agricultural production, infrastructure, and urban use [1]. Land use time series show that Brazil lost 71 Mha of native forest over 34 years, due to the expansion of pasture areas (by 46%) and agricultural areas (by 172%) [5] In this setting, Sustainability 2022, 14, 2563. Sustainability 2022, 14, 2563 we highlight the Amazon and Atlantic Forest biomes as they host intense activities in these sectors, representing 81% of agricultural production [6] and 57% of the pasture herd of Brazil [7]. These biomes have rich and diverse species, including endemic ones [8,9,10,11].

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Conclusion