Brazil's Forests in Brief

  
Following three centuries under the rule of Portugal, Brazil became an independent nation in 1822. By far the largest and most populous country in South America, Brazil has overcome more than half a century of military intervention in the governance of the country to pursue industrial and agricultural growth and development of the interior. Exploiting vast natural resources and a large labor pool, Brazil became Latin America's leading economic power by the 1970s. Highly unequal income distribution remains a pressing problem.

Brazil’s Forest

Brazil is the largest country in South America. Approximately 2.3 million square kilometers -- 27 percent of Brazil’s total area of 8.5 million square kilometers -- can be considered "frontier" forest. Brazil's frontier forests comprise 17 percent of the world's remaining frontiers, making it the third highest ranked country in terms of remaining frontier forest. Brazil has the third largest block of remaining frontier forest in the world and ranks first in plant biodiversity among frontier forest nations.

Brazil has lost over 570,000 km² of its Amazonian forest - an area the size of France.  In 1994 and 1995 deforestation rates nearly reached a high of 29,000 km²/year, representing the greatest increase in the rate of deforestation ever recorded.  Since then Brazil has averaged 17,600 km²/year loss in Amazonian forest cover ⁽²⁾.

Deforestation means loss of Brazil’s tremendous biodiversity, and alters regional hydrology, climate and terrestrial carbon storage.  Much of the clearing is done for grazing cattle, cropland and commercial logging.  The rapid pace of deforestation can be attributed to a 10-fold increase in population since the 1960’s, industrial logging, mining and expansion of road networks – allowing colonists to move into frontier forests, increasing fires that occur with greater frequency after a forest has been altered by humans ⁽³⁾.

Logging in the Brazilian Amazon

Accidental fires account for nearly half of all area burned in the Amazon Basin.

The Brazilian Amazon provides more timber than any other tropical forest on our planet.  Over 28 million m³/year come principally from Pará, Mato Grosso and Rondônia states.  The majority of the wood stays in Brazil (86%), and 20% of that supplies the markets in São Paulo state ⁽¹⁾.  Experts estimate that up to 80% of the timber harvested in the Brazilian Amazon is done so illegally.

Currently 29% of the Brazilian Amazon is designated as protected, either as a national or state forest, biological reserve, national or state park, extractive reserve or indigenous land.  Twenty-five percent (25%) is privately owned and 46% is untitled public land (“terra devoluta”) ⁽²⁾.  Currently the bulk of timber comes off private land, with some coming from untitled public land and very little from protected and indigenous areas.

All logging in the Amazon requires a permit and a management plan, obtained through the Brazilian Environmental Institute (IBAMA).  In 1998 IBAMA received 2806 requests for management plans and authorized approx. 928.  Did those who did not receive authorization give up, or did they log without a permit?  Did those who did receive authorization follow the management guidelines?  Are the guidelines supportive of sustainable forest management?  See GFW-Vision to learn how Global Forest Watch- Amazônia will address these questions.

Among timber companies there is a growing understanding of good forestry practices and even what Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification means, although a mere 5% of timber volume in the Amazon is FSC certified to date. A recent survey indicates that 58% of the wood product industry in Sao Paulo state would prefer to buy certified wood for their use ⁽³⁾.

Brazilian institutions are working to improve – and curb illegal forest practices; establishment of national forests, increased monitoring of rural properties and certification of forest stewardship are three worth mention.

National Forests:  The Brazilian government has committed itself to establishing 50 million hectares of new national forest land, an area the size of Spain, by the year 2010.  Brazil already has 28% of its land in conservation areas and the federal government intends to fully protect an additional 10% of its Amazon territory ⁽⁴⁾.  Limiting land availability by placing unclaimed public lands under management should help increase land, and timber, values.

Monitoring of Rural Properties:  In the 1990’s the Brazilian Environmental Ministry (MMA), its Natural Resource Policy Program (SPRN) and the Pilot Program for Tropical Forest Protection (PPG7) supported the Mato Grosso State Environmental Foundation’s (FEMA) program for controlling deforestion on rural properties ⁽⁵⁾.  In 2000-2001 Mato Grosso reduced its forest loss by 20% ⁽⁶⁾. Through FEMA’s program the state has begun development of a spatial database of private land boundaries and ownership, a critical element in monitoring forest use.

Certification of Forest Stewardship:  Since the late 1980’s the major Brazil non-governmental groups have promoted certification through the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) system.  FSC promotes forest sustainability by evaluating the company’s forest management practices considering economic viability, ecological integrity and social justice. Forest products with the FSC logo come from forests that meet the internationally recognized FSC Principles and Criteria of Forest Stewardship. Forest inspections are carried out by FSC accredited certification bodies. Research in development at IMAZON will study methods for monitoring FSC certified company practice using satellite imagery.

¹ Acertando o Alvo 2:  consumo de madeira amazonica e certificacao florestal no estado de Sao Paulo. Available at www.imazon.org.br.
² Adalberto Verissimo, Pers. Comm.
³ Ibid.
⁴ Verissimo, A, M. Cochrane, C. Souza.  August 2002.  National Forests in the Amazon, Science, Vol 297 pp 1478.
⁵ Leite, P. 2000 Controlling Deforestion on Rural Properties
⁶ Fearnside, P.  2002.

Brazil: Ongoing Initiatives

   

Our overall objective:We seek to increase the effectiveness of forest management, land use practices and forest law enforcement in the Amazon Basin by ensuring that credible and reliable forest landscape information is publicly available in a user-friendly format. We are committed to finding practical and concrete ways to complement and strengthen the wide variety of important efforts underway in the region.

Human Pressure in the Brazilian Amazon Forests
GFW, in partnership with IMAZON, conducted an assessment of human impact in the forests of the Brazilian Amazon Biome. The first of its kind, the project combines a series of existing data layers such as roads, vegetations, urban centers and settlements to identify areas of human settlements and areas under pressure. Preliminary results show that the human impact is greater than previously estimated.
Project supporters: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ford Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, ABN AMRO Bank, and IKEA.

Mapping of un-official roads in ParáGFW, in partnership with IMAZON, sponsored a project to map un-official roads with satellite images. This project used Landsat images to examine forest openings, identify roadways and potential logging patios, and identify areas at risk for deforestation and logging in the Midlands of Pará State, an area with some of the greatest forest loss in the Brazilian Amazon. Principal project supporters included ABN AMRO Bank and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The results of this project were released by Imazon in the Summer of 2005. Imazon continues to map un-official roads in other states of the Brazilian Amazon.

Current operational partner: 
Imazon (www.imazon.org.br) is a non-profit research institution whose mission is to promote sustainable development in the Amazon region through studies, information dissemination and professional training. The institute was founded in 1990, and its head office is located in the metropolitan region of Belém, Pará, Brazil. In 15 years of operation, Imazon has published over 200 technical papers, of which 88 have appeared in international scientific journals or as chapters of books.

For more information on these projects, please contact:
Ruth Nogueron
Global Forest Watch
10 G Street NE, Suite 800
Washington, DC 20002
USA