Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon Devon Calhoun

Scope Increasing levels of Deforestation Increasing levels of Forest Degradation Increasing levels of CO2 release Focusing on recent downturns (2008-2012) and upturns (2013) in both deforestation and degradation Forest degradation = can participate in forest regeneration

Trends: Rates of Deforestation and Forest Degradation In a 10 year time frame (2000-2010) 169,074 km squared of Amazonia forest was converted to human-dominated land uses 50,815 km sqared was directly altered by timber harvesting and/or fire, equivalent to 30% of the area converted by deforestation Peak 2004 Lowest in 2010 Overall – rates have lowered since 2005 Interesting to note that some of the biggest down turns in deforestation cause an upturn in forest degredation trends

Trends: Rates of Deforestation and Forest Degradation cont. Deforestation rates continued to decrease until 2012 2011 658 km^2 and 2012 283 km^2 reduction by 57% TWO KEY CHANGES: Degradation has had a 75% reduction compared to 2012 28% Increase in deforestation in the Amazon in 2013 Why?

Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research

Conditions/Drivers Infrastructure expansion Road construction, hydropower development, and mineral exploitation Agricultural expansion (cattle ranching and crop expansion) Selective logging Forest Fires Currently, 20% of the original forest cover of this region has been converted to pasture, agricultural lands, and, to a lesser degree urban areas

Forest degredation processes and interactions found in the BA selective logging = creating favorable conditions for burning when fires from adjacent agricultural fields unintentionally escape logging fires = can be recurrent Can be converted to deforestation – increasing forest edges and landscape fragmentation Eventually degraded forests can regenerate

Alternatives / Conditions for Downturns Protected areas Strict enforcement/fines Compensating Reductions/ Credit reductions Educating populations (indigenous, rural, urban) on Avoided Deforestation (AD) practices Economic Incentives for sustainable land use methods Intensify the combat against illegal deforestation Brazil has the largest Protected area system in the world- covering approx. 220 million hectares.

Alternatives : REDD + Evaluation of Forests Legal and institutional analysis Monitoring carbon emissions Technical studies for REDD+ projects Forest recomposition Green Municipalities Capacity-building Support for public policies and dissemination REDD+ = seeks to contribute to increasing efficiency in governance for REDD+ initiatives; contribute to monitoring carbon emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in the region, as well as stimulate development of mechanism for payment for environmental services

Why this recent upturn in 2013? “The government can’t be surprised by this increase in deforestation, given that their own action is what’s pushing it. The change of the Forest Code and the resulting amnesty for those who illegally felled the forest sent the message that such crimes have no consequences” - Greenpeace Weakening of Legal Protections The revised Forest Code was passed in 2012 after more than a decade of efforts by Brazil's powerful agricultural lobby. The changes eased restrictions for smaller landowners, allowing them to clear land closer to riverbanks, and allowed those who had illegally felled land to not face penalties if they signed an agreement to replant trees, which many environmentalists say is unlikely to be enforced.   push by Rousseff government's for infrastructure projects in the Amazon region was also a cause, noting that much of the recent destruction was along a government-improved highway running through Para and Mato Grosso states, which eases the transport of illegal timber. Another factor is high global food prices which drives forest clearance for cattle and soya farming.

Larger Scale Projections Determine success of alternative methods BAU Recent downturn- shows a lack of enforcement that is likely to continue without a change Patterns may continue Reforms Deforestation will decrease with effective implementation of successful alternatives Requires more research in determining which alternatives are most successful