Feb 05, 2010
Deforestation In Mato Grosso Falls By 80%
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
Renewed efforts to reduce deforestation in Brazil, which was launched in 2009, appear to have already produced results. During the months of October and November 2009, deforestation of the Amazon forest in the state of Mato Grosso decreased 81% compared to the same two months in 2008. During those two months in 2009, 50 square kilometers were deforested in Mato Grosso compared to 274 square kilometers in 2008. For all of the Brazilian Amazon Region, deforestation declined 72% during those two months in 2009 compared to the same two months in 2008.
Concrete conclusions cannot be drawn from only two months of data, but this is the first data that has become available since the government started a new program in 2009 called the Green Arch (Arco Verde) in 2009. This program was designed specifically to detect and to stop illegal deforestation in the Amazon Region.
The Brazilian National Space Institute (Inpe) has set up a system called the Real Time Deforestation Detection System, which allows them to monitor deforestation in real time by using frequent satellite images. This system was set up to monitor the 43 municipalities where the most deforestation has occurred. The satellite images are part of a database that will eventually include thousands of ranches and farms in the same 43 municipalities. If it is determined that a rancher or farmer cut more trees than he is allowed under the law, he will not be given a permit to sell any of his agricultural production (cattle, crops, or lumber).
Although the government imitated this system last year, private supermarket chains in Brazil (including Wall Mart) have had a similar program in place for several years. The supermarket chains agreed to not purchase any beef from areas where illegal deforestation was occurring. The international grain companies in Brazil have also had a similar program in place where they refused to buy soybeans from areas where illegal deforestation was occurring. These private efforts were on a small scale, whereas the system set up by the government using satellite photos is much more comprehensive.
Even with this reduction, the state of Mato Grosso is still ranked second in deforestation behind the state of Para. Brazilian officials are very pleased though because progress on reducing deforestation is coming sooner than expected. Originally, the Brazilian EPA had set a goal of 80% reduction of illegal deforestation by the year 2020. Governmental officials accredit the quick reduction to stricter enforcement of environmental laws on the federal, state and local levels. The Brazilian government has also pledged to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and deforestation is the primary source of these gasses in Brazil.