Deforestation In Brazilian Amazon Research Articles

Deforestation fight in the sight of Brazilian Amazonas inhabitants

Brazilian Amazon deforestation crystallizes numerous political, economic, and social issues. Recent empirical studies explore deforestation drivers by focusing on large-scale perspective but ignore the sight of the local populations. This article aims at providing an overview of deforestation perception among local populations defined as living within or near the Amazon biome. We have conducted 197 interviews in October 2021 in the Brazilian Amazonas region. On the basis of these interviews, we provide statistical analysis to explore 5 effects capable of driving the local perception of the deforestation processes: the gender, educational, generational, geographical and indigenous effects. Our results first highlight a very high and positive educational effect for the highest education level and a high indigenous effect, both in conformity with the intuition. Second, we observe a negative gender effect, contradicting some strands in the academic literature, and a high but ambiguous geographical effect. Finally, age does not appear to be neither a driver of interest nor an engagement in the fight against deforestation. In a context where the enforcement of environmental policy has become ineffective in recent years, we argue that characterizing local perceptions of deforestation processes might help to adjust the policy campaigns against deforestation, enhance their effectivenesses, and therefore participate to the restoration of Amazonian cover.

Brazilian Amazon indigenous territories under deforestation pressure

Studies showed that Brazilian Amazon indigenous territories (ITs) are efficient models for preserving forests by reducing deforestation, fires, and related carbon emissions. Considering the importance of ITs for conserving socio-environmental and cultural diversity and the recent climb in the Brazilian Amazon deforestation, we used official remote sensing datasets to analyze deforestation inside and outside indigenous territories within Brazil's Amazon biome during the 2013–2021 period. Deforestation has increased by 129% inside ITs since 2013, followed by an increase in illegal mining areas. In 2019–2021, deforestation was 195% higher and 30% farther from the borders towards the interior of indigenous territories than in previous years (2013–2018). Furthermore, about 59% of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions within ITs in 2013–2021 (96 million tons) occurred in the last three years of analyzed years, revealing the magnitude of increasing deforestation to climate impacts. Therefore, curbing deforestation in indigenous territories must be a priority for the Brazilian government to secure these peoples' land rights, ensure the forests' protection and regulate the global climate.

Brazil\u2019s Amazonian deforestation: the role of landholdings in undesignated public lands

The impact of deforestation in Brazilian Amazonia is a global concern, and land occupation in public lands contributes to increased deforestation rates. Little is known about the spread of deforestation in landholdings in undesignated public lands located on cattle-ranching frontiers. We use a case of Matupi District, a hotspot of deforestation along the Transamazon Highway in the southern portion of Brazil’s state of Amazonas, where spontaneous squatters and land grabbers are the main actors occupying landholdings. We assessed the advance of deforestation and the spatial distribution of landholdings in relation to the main road and to land categories (e.g., protected areas and undesignated public land). Landholdings up to 400 ha were the majority in numbers (52%) and larger landholdings (> 400 ha) were located farther into the forest, contributing to expanding the deforestation frontier. By 2018, 80% of the remaining forest was in larger landholdings (> 400 ha), increasing the susceptibility of this forest to being cleared in the coming years. Thus, greater attention should be given to these larger landholdings to control the spread of deforestation. By analyzing the clearing pattern in the landholdings, deforestation monitoring can focus on specific sizes of landholdings that contribute most to the advance of the deforestation frontier. Brazil’s current trend to facilitating the legalization of illegal claims in undesignated public lands, such as the large and medium landholdings we studied, implies vast areas of future deforestation and should be reversed.

Relationship between Land Property Security and Brazilian Amazon Deforestation in the Mato Grosso State during the Period 2013–2018

This research examines the relations between forest decrease and legal property security in Mato Grosso State, Brazil. The study area encompasses 133,090.4 km2 of the Amazonian biome, belonging to the Brazilian Legal Amazon, located at the arc of deforestation where agriculture and cattle ranching compete with the native vegetation cover. Cadastral monitoring and certification of productive land plots are Brazil’s public policies to implement to tackle these environmental challenges. In this context, we crossed the Land Management System (SIGEF) dataset launched in 2013 from the National Institute for Agrarian Reform and the Amazon Deforestation Monitoring Program (PRODES) dataset from the Brazilian National Institute of Space Research (INPE). The analysis considered the 2013–2018 period with public and private land plots and evaluated the differences in smallholders and large landowners’ deforesting behavior. The results demonstrate that the primacy of certified properties was in private land (94%), with a small portion of the public land (6%). Most properties have <80% forest coverage on certification, corresponding to 85% on private properties and 95% on public properties. This fact is important because environmental legislation in the Amazon region establishes a legal reserve of 80% in forest areas. The results show that the smaller the property, the greater the percentage of proportional deforestation in the certification. In the biennium, considering before and after certification, a proportion of 8% of private properties and 28% of public properties with vegetation cover had deforestation. The results demonstrate the tendency for smaller properties to deforest proportionally more than larger ones. The annual difference series in properties registered in 2015 demonstrates that the highest deforestation occurrence was in the year of certification in private properties and the subsequent year in public properties. The SIGEF system is relatively new, requiring more time to establish a consolidated trend. The combination of property rights and effective compliance with environmental legislation allows the conservation of the forest. However, it is essential to improve inspection. Land ownership inserts the owner into a system of rules to properly use natural resources, constituting a legal instrument to guide human action.

Who is going to save the Brazilian Amazon forest? Reflections on deforestation, wildlife eviction, and stewardship behavior

AbstractThe Brazilian Amazon deforestation is the context for this article, approached as a crime against humanity and wildlife. Recently, Amazon forest fires have also worried most of the economically developed nations, generating criticism and demanding that the Brazilian Government be more active in preventing fires and deforestation. It is necessary to guarantee the wellbeing and health of millions of animal species that live in this habitat, avoiding their extinctions and encouraging the preservation of the forest and its inhabitants. Agribusiness, together with illegal timber trade, are blamed for most of the deforestation. In this paper, we present and discuss Brazilian Amazon deforestation data, addressing the role of agribusiness as dependent on good environmental governance. We argue how stewardship behavior needs to become a path to stop deforestation and wildlife eviction and we reflect on what marketers in Brazil and the world can do to better protect the Amazon rainforest. We conclude that the Government, companies, and society must be coresponsible for the protection of the Amazon rainforest through conservation transparency, dialogue, environmental awareness, and sustainability in production and consumption practices.

Brazil's Amazon Soy Moratorium reduced deforestation.

Between 2004 and 2012, multiple policies contributed to one of the great conservation successes of the twenty-first century-an 84% decrease in the rate of Brazilian Amazon deforestation. Among the most prominent of these policies is the Amazon Soy Moratorium (ASM), an agreement by grain traders not to purchase soy grown on recently deforested land. The ASM inspired widespread adoption of similar zero-deforestation commitments, but its impact is poorly understood due to its overlap with other conservation policies. Here, we apply an econometric triple-differences model to remotely sensed deforestation data to isolate the ASM's impact within Brazil's Arc of Deforestation. We show that the ASM reduced deforestation in soy-suitable locations in the Amazon by 0.66 ± 0.32 percentage points relative to a counterfactual control, preventing 18,000 ± 9,000 km2 of deforestation over its first decade (2006-2016). Although these results highlight potential benefits of private conservation policies, the ASM's success was dependent on complementarities with public property registries and deforestation monitoring.

Potential increase of legal deforestation in Brazilian Amazon after Forest Act revision

The Brazilian Amazon rainforest is protected largely by command and control regulation of public and private land. The Brazilian Forest Act requires private landholders within the Amazon to set aside 80% of their land as legal reserves for nature protection, but this requirement can be reduced to 50% if more than 65% of a state’s territory is protected public land (for example, public conservation units and indigenous reserves). In the ongoing land designation process in Brazil, some Amazonian states may cross this 65% threshold. We assess the potential reduction in the legal reserve requirement from 80% to 50%, through spatially explicit modelling of scenarios concerning land tenure consolidation, employing up-to-date databases on land ownership. Depending on the outcome of land designation processes and political priorities, some 6.5–15.4 million hectares of private land previously protected as legal reserves may become available for legal deforestation. While protection of public land is crucial for safeguarding the Amazon, revisions of federal and state legislation may be needed to avoid the further extension of protected public land triggering increased legal deforestation on private lands. Zero-deforestation commitments and other initiatives may mitigate impacts in the absence of such revision.

Earthworm functional traits, landscape degradation and ecosystem services in the Brazilian Amazon deforestation arc

Earthworms, as ecosystem engineers, help to mineralize soil organic matter, construct and maintain soil structure, and often stimulate plant growth and protect plants from pests. The aim of this study was (i) to determine the connection between earthworm traits and indicators of soil ecosystem services and (ii) to identify earthworm “response” traits, which are selected by the landscape or changes in the soil, and “effect” traits, which contribute to soil processes. In the southern portion of the state of Parà (eastern Brazilian Amazonia), we sampled earthworms at 135 points distributed among 3 locations, 9 sub-locations and 27 farms (5 sampling points per farm). At each point, three 25 cm × 25 cm soil samples were hand-sorted for earthworms. We measured eight functional traits in 1148 individuals: relative gizzard size, type of typhlosole, length and type of caudal setae, pigmentation, overall length, thickness of septa and musculature in anterior segments. We found a significant, although relatively low, relationship between landscape classes and trait proportions. Earthworm trait proportions significantly covaried with soil parameters and indicators of soil ecosystem services. We did not find significant covariation between earthworm morphospecies and soil ecosystem services. We identified earthworm “response” traits that had been selected and assessed consequences of these changes on effects of earthworm communities (via their “effect” traits) on soil processes and ecosystem services. Typhlosole type, gizzard size and septa thickness were identified as “response” traits selected by soil and landscape conditions. These traits were also identified as “effect” traits for their influence on soil structure. Results indicated a connection between earthworm traits and landscape degradation and soil services, which is a new step toward conceptualizing earthworm ecological studies that go beyond the species level.

Analyzing the Spatial Dynamics of Deforestation in Brazilian Amazon

Historically, development in Brazilian Amazon was promoted by permits of deforestation under soft territory control or supervision. However, due to the importance of this biome for biodiversity and ecosystem balance in a global perspective, Brazilian's government has tightened deforestation control. This work investigates the spatial pattern of deforestation in a cross-section and time perspective using global and local spatial data analysis. Global results indicate the existence of high spatial correlation and that deforestation holds concentrated across space, despite the efficacy of policy mechanisms adopted for controlling and reducing the level of deforestation in Legal Amazon. Furthermore, local results support the hypothesis of high spillover effects. Considering the spatial analysis results, we highlight some implications for policy design aiming deforestation control.

Amazonian Deforestation, Environmental Kuznets Curve and Deforestation Policy: A Cointegration Approach

Brazilian Amazon deforestation rate is found to display a unit root and to be cointegrated with Brazilian GDP and its square – An Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC). Although, it is not the first time that such an EKC is detected, this may be the first such time-series evidence. Detecting an EKC is hampered by several econometric issues that have been shown to lead to possibly spurious results in cross-section and panel contexts, but are satisfactorily addressed in a cointegrated (time-series) framework. Alternative theories for explaining the deforestation path are rejected. There is evidence that the Action Plan of the Brazilian government against deforestation had an important effect. These results are in contrast to the economics literature on an EKC in emissions such asCO2, but appear to be consistent with a geographical sciences literature that considers that deforestation declines when alternative activities become available.

Impact of foot-and-mouth disease status on deforestation in Brazilian Amazon and cerrado municipalities between 2000 and 2010

Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon released approximately 5.7 billion tons of CO2 to the atmosphere between 2000 and 2010, and 50–80% of this deforestation was for pasture. Most assume that increasing demand for cattle products produced in Brazil caused this deforestation, but the empirical work to-date on cattle documents only correlations between cattle herd size, pasture expansion, cattle prices, and deforestation. This paper uses panel data on deforestation and foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) status—an exogenous demand shifter—to estimate whether changes in FMD status caused new deforestation in municipalities in the Brazilian Amazon and cerrado biomes during the 2000–2010 period. Results suggest that, on average, becoming certified as FMD-free caused a temporary spike in deforestation in the 2 years after a municipality became FMD-free, but caused subsequent deforestation to decline relative to infected municipalities during the 2000–2010 period.

Protected Areas' Impacts on Brazilian Amazon Deforestation: Examining Conservation-Development Interactions to Inform Planning.

Protected areas are the leading forest conservation policy for species and ecoservices goals and they may feature in climate policy if countries with tropical forest rely on familiar tools. For Brazil's Legal Amazon, we estimate the average impact of protection upon deforestation and show how protected areas’ forest impacts vary significantly with development pressure. We use matching, i.e., comparisons that are apples-to-apples in observed land characteristics, to address the fact that protected areas (PAs) tend to be located on lands facing less pressure. Correcting for that location bias lowers our estimates of PAs’ forest impacts by roughly half. Further, it reveals significant variation in PA impacts along development-related dimensions: for example, the PAs that are closer to roads and the PAs closer to cities have higher impact. Planners have multiple conservation and development goals, and are constrained by cost, yet still conservation planning should reflect what our results imply about future impacts of PAs.

The Red Queen race in Brazilian Amazon deforestation: the necessity of a sustainable economy to zero deforestation

On June 30th, 2015, one of the most accessed news websites from Brazil had two highlighted headlines, which seemed contradictory, considering the dynamics of natural resources exploitation in Brazil. At a meeting with the USA President, the Brazilian President, Dilma Rousseff, proposed zero deforestation in Brazilian Amazon until 2030, while an agreement to sale i natura meat from Brazilian slaughterhouses to the USA markets had been signed by herself. In the last decade, Brazil reduced 80% of all deforestation in its Amazon (from 29,000 km2 to 5000 km2); therefore, it seems a tangible goal to eliminate all illegal deforestations in 15-year terms. However, in the last 30 years, the Brazilian Amazon economic behavior does not indicate a positive result for Rousseff’s proposition to reduce deforestation, which will be one of Brazil’s commitment at COP21 – United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Paris, France. The history of deforestation combat in Amazon can be described by an analogy with Red Queen’s race: economic changes precedes reactive actions by state, which try to

Desmatamento Recente nos Estados da Amazônia Legal: uma análise da contribuição dos preços agrícolas e das políticas governamentais

O objetivo desse trabalho foi analisar como os preços agrícolas e as políticas públicas afetaram o desmatamento nos estados da Amazônia Legal brasileira no período de 1999 a 2011. Para esse fim, foram utilizados dados estaduais em um modelo de dados em painel e uma metodologia de análise de efeitos líquidos de políticas sobre o desmatamento. Os resultados indicam que o desmatamento está mais relacionado aos preços agrícolas do que às variáveis de políticas associados ao crédito rural e gastos com transporte e agricultura. Entretanto, os resultados parecem indicar que políticas recentes de fiscalização mais focadas, como embargos de comercialização de áreas desmatadas ilegalmente e restrição de crédito para áreas irregulares ou que não cumprem a legislação ambiental, podem ter sido mais efetivas para a redução do desmatamento no estado de Mato Grosso. Sendo assim, concluiu-se que o desmatamento na Amazônia Legal é influenciado tanto pela variação dos preços agrícolas quanto pelas políticas governamentais.

Environmental change and the carbon balance of Amazonian forests.

Extreme climatic events and land-use change are known to influence strongly the current carbon cycle of Amazonia, and have the potential to cause significant global climate impacts. This review intends to evaluate the effects of both climate and anthropogenic perturbations on the carbon balance of the Brazilian Amazon and to understand how they interact with each other. By analysing the outputs of the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) Assessment Report 4 (AR4) model ensemble, we demonstrate that Amazonian temperatures and water stress are both likely to increase over the 21st Century. Curbing deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon by 62% in 2010 relative to the 1990s mean decreased the Brazilian Amazon's deforestation contribution to global land use carbon emissions from 17% in the 1990s and early 2000s to 9% by 2010. Carbon sources in Amazonia are likely to be dominated by climatic impacts allied with forest fires (48.3% relative contribution) during extreme droughts. The current net carbon sink (net biome productivity, NBP) of +0.16 (ranging from +0.11 to +0.21) Pg C year(-1) in the Brazilian Amazon, equivalent to 13.3% of global carbon emissions from land-use change for 2008, can be negated or reversed during drought years [NBP = -0.06 (-0.31 to +0.01) Pg C year(-1) ]. Therefore, reducing forest fires, in addition to reducing deforestation, would be an important measure for minimizing future emissions. Conversely, doubling the current area of secondary forests and avoiding additional removal of primary forests would help the Amazonian gross forest sink to offset approximately 42% of global land-use change emissions. We conclude that a few strategic environmental policy measures are likely to strengthen the Amazonian net carbon sink with global implications. Moreover, these actions could increase the resilience of the net carbon sink to future increases in drought frequency.

Amazonian forest loss and the long reach of China’s influence

This paper explores China’s role in deforestation in Latin America. Brazil’s Amazon region contains vast natural resources including land, timber, minerals and hydroelectric potential. China’s strong economy and large demands relative to domestic supplies of these resources mean that China has become Brazil’s largest trading partner, primarily for natural resources. The paper examines how China influences deforestation in Brazilian Amazonia in a variety of ways, including through the direct influence of Chinese enterprises through land purchases and other mechanisms. This paper finds that the rapid rise in exports of soy and beef products to China are two of the major drivers of Amazonian deforestation in Brazil. The paper further argues that Chinese purchases of agricultural and forest land and Chinese imports of commodities such as timber and aluminum also cause environmental impacts in Amazonia. Chinese financing and investment in Amazonian infrastructure such as railways and mineral processing facilities have additional impacts.

Avoided deforestation in Brazilian Amazonia: Simulating the effect of the Juma Sustainable Development Reserve

The Juma Sustainable Development Reserve, located in Brazil’s state of Amazonas, was the first protected area in Brazil to be benefited by a Reducing Emissions from a Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) project. However, the carbon benefits of REDD projects may be compromised by leakage, or displacement of deforestation to areas outside of the reserve. Through environmental modeling techniques it is possible to simulate scenarios that represent changes in land use and land cover and thus assess the possible trajectories and magnitude of deforestation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Juma reserve in reducing deforestation and to estimate projected carbon emission by 2050. The simulated scenarios were: (1) baseline scenario, without the creation of the Juma reserve; (2) scenario with leakage (SL) where the creation of the reserve would cause a spatial shift in deforestation, and (3) scenario with reduced leakage (SRL), where the amount of deforestation resulting from leakage is reduced. Considering the study area as a whole (Juma reserve +120-km buffer zone), there would be a 16.0% (14,695km2) reduction in forest cover by 2050 in the baseline scenario, 15.9% (14,647km2) in the SL and 15.4% (14,219km2) in the SRL, as compared to what was present in 2008. The loss of forest cover within the limits of the Juma reserve by 2050 would be 18.9% (1052km2) in the baseline scenario and 7.1% (395km2) in the SL and SRL. From the simulated scenarios, the carbon stock in the total study area was estimated to be reduced from 1.63 Pg C (Pg=1015g=1 billion tons) in 2008 to 1.37 Pg C in 2050 in the baseline scenario and in the SL and to 1.38 Pg C in the SRL. In the area of the Juma reserve, the carbon stock would be reduced from 0.10 Pg C in 2008 to 0.08 Pg C in 2050 (baseline) or 0.09 Pg C (SL and SRL). The Juma reserve was effective in reducing carbon emission by 2050, but the reduction would be substantially less than that calculated in the Juma REDD project. Leakage must be accounted for in REDD projects because the deforestation resulting from this effect could generate “hot air” (carbon credit with no additionality). Over longer time horizons the benefits of reserves are greater and leakage losses are recovered.

Large-Area Classification and Mapping of Forest and Land Cover in the Brazilian Amazon: A Comparative Analysis of ALOS/PALSAR and Landsat Data Sources

Information on the distribution of tropical forests is critical to decision-making on a host of globally significant issues ranging from climate stabilization and biodiversity conservation to poverty reduction and human health. The majority of tropical nations need high-resolution, satellite-based maps of their forests as the international community now works to craft an incentive-based mechanism to compensate tropical nations for maintaining their forests intact. The effectiveness of such a mechanism will depend in large part on the capacity of current and near-future Earth observation satellites to provide information that meets the requirements of international monitoring protocols now being discussed. Here we assess the ability of a state-of-the-art satellite radar sensor, the ALOS/PALSAR, to support large-area land cover classification as well as high-resolution baseline mapping of tropical forest cover. Through a comprehensive comparative analysis involving twenty separate PALSAR- and Landsat-based classifications, we confirm the potential of PALSAR as an accurate (>90%) source for spatially explicit estimates of forest cover based on data and analyses from a large and diverse region encompassing the Xingu River headwaters in southeastern Amazonia. Pair-wise spatial comparisons among maps derived from PALSAR, Landsat, and PRODES, the Brazilian Amazon deforestation monitoring program, revealed a high degree of spatial similarity. Given that a long-term data record consisting of current and future spaceborne radar sensors is now expected, our results point to the important role that spaceborne imaging radar can play in complementing optical remote sensing to enable the design of robust forest monitoring systems.

Rural property size drives patterns of upland and riparian forest retention in a tropical deforestation frontier

Deforestation in Brazilian Amazonia accounts for a disproportionate global scale fraction of both carbon emissions from biomass burning and biodiversity erosion through habitat loss. Here we use field- and remote-sensing data to examine the effects of private landholding size on the amount and type of forest cover retained within economically active rural properties in an aging southern Amazonian deforestation frontier. Data on both upland and riparian forest cover from a survey of 300 rural properties indicated that 49.4% (SD = 29.0%) of the total forest cover was maintained as of 2007, and that property size is a key regional-scale determinant of patterns of deforestation and land-use change. Small properties (≤150 ha) retained a lower proportion of forest (20.7%, SD = 17.6) than did large properties (>150 ha; 55.6%, SD = 27.2). Generalized linear models showed that property size had a positive effect on remaining areas of both upland and total forest cover. Using a Landsat time-series, the age of first clear-cutting that could be mapped within the boundaries of each property had a negative effect on the proportion of upland, riparian, and total forest cover retained. Based on these data, we show contrasts in land-use strategies between smallholders and largeholders, as well as differences in compliance with legal requirements in relation to minimum forest cover set-asides within private landholdings. This suggests that property size structure must be explicitly considered in landscape-scale conservation planning initiatives guiding agro-pastoral frontier expansion into remaining areas of tropical forest.

Biomass and greenhouse-gas emissions from land-use change in Brazil's Amazonian “arc of deforestation”: The states of Mato Grosso and Rondônia

We calculate greenhouse-gas emissions from land-use change in Mato Grosso and Rondônia, two states that are responsible for more than half of the deforestation in Brazilian Amazonia. In addition to deforestation (clearing of forest), we also estimate clearing rates and emissions for savannas (especially the cerrado, or central Brazilian savanna), which have not been included in Brazil's monitoring of deforestation. The rate of clearing of savannas was much more rapid in the 1980s and 1990s than in recent years. Over the 2006–2007 period (one year) 204 × 10 3 ha of forest and 30 × 10 3 ha of savanna were cleared in Mato Grosso, representing a gross loss of biomass carbon (above + belowground) of 66.0 and 1.8 × 10 6 MgC, respectively. In the same year in Rondônia, 130 × 10 3 ha of forest was cleared, representing gross losses of biomass of 40.4 × 10 6 MgC. Data on clearing of savanna in Rondônia are unavailable, but the rate is believed to be small in the year in question. Net losses of carbon stock for Mato Grosso forest, Mato Grosso savanna and Rondônia forest were 29.0, 0.5 and 18.5 × 10 6 MgC, respectively. Including soil carbon loss and the effects of trace-gas emissions (using global warming potentials for CH 4 and N 2O from the IPCC's 2007 Fourth Assessment Report), the impact of these emission sources totaled 30.9, 0.6 and 25.4 × 10 6 Mg CO 2-equivalent C, respectively. These impacts approximate the combined effect of logging and clearing because the forest biomasses used are based on surveys conducted before many forests were exposed to logging. The total emission from Mato Grosso and Rondônia of 56.9 × 10 6 Mg CO 2-equivalent C can be compared with Brazil's annual emission of approximately 80 × 10 6 MgC from fossil–fuel combustion.