Connecting decision makers to a dynamic network of information Bloomberg quickly and accurately delivers business and financial information An environmentally protected area near Sao Felix do Xingu arguing natural carbon sinks can provide a buffer against the sluggish fight to curb global warming “Tapping into such an outstanding potential requires enhanced global support and investment.” São Félix do Xingu (SFX) is one of the largest municipalities in the world and has historically been a major contributor to deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. The Sustainable Landscapes Pilot Program1 (or simply the pilot program) being implemented by TNC in SFX supports REDD+ efforts by addressing the major underlying causes of deforestation in the municipality With a focus on sustainable land-use alternatives for rural economic development the initiative aims to involve different local actors (local organizations and indigenous people) to create a politically and economically favorable scenario for reducing deforestation This diversity of actors is the distinctive characteristic of the initiative; it is also one of its main challenges This chapter shows how REDD+ plays out in a jurisdiction with a wide range of diverse actors and the role that smallholders play in this context The diversity of actors required the initiative to adopt a mix of different strategies to reduce deforestation Developing the right mix required consideration of the relevant institutions as defined by Brockhaus and Angelsen (2012) The case also shows that even when benefits reflect local demands they may not be sufficient to achieve transformational change This requires an enabling ‘policyscape,’ defined as the spatial expression of a policy mix (Barton et al 2013) that includes ‘command and control,’ economic incentives and information sharing (Vatn 2005) the initiative clearly demonstrates how REDD+ is being adapted to reflect potential conservation and development synergies on a large scale suggesting that strategies with broader and multilevel goals beyond solely mitigation of climate change and results-based funding are shaping what comes after REDD+ At the epicenter of Brazil’s expanding agricultural frontier the state of Pará is struggling to balance the demand for agricultural commodities with environmental and cultural conservation economic development has taken place at the expense of conservation leading to one of the highest deforestation rates in Brazil Located in the southeastern portion of the state of Pará the municipality of SFX is one of the top deforesters in the Amazon and has been included on the Ministry of Environment’s blacklist making it subject to increased enforcement efforts and cross-compliance measures (e.g The geographic area for the pilot program corresponds to the municipal area (Figure 6.1) This intervention area was selected for various reasons it still has large areas of standing forest that should be protected and has a history of high rates of deforestation with all major types of land ownership (federal conservation units allowing TNC to gain experience with all of these while working at the landscape level it has a high diversity of ecosystem services it is supported by the local government and there are civil society organizations present in the area that could lead different aspects of the initiative (TNC 2013a) Figure 6.1 Map of the REDD+ initiative in SFX Data sources: Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística SFX is the second largest municipality in Brazil and holds the largest cattle herd compared to 91,340 people (50% urban) (IBGE 2010) Beef cattle ranching is the main economic activity in the municipality and the product’s ability to walk to market (i.e Other products cannot be sold easily outside the municipality due to limited infrastructure and poor quality roads Other important activities that drive the local economy are: mining The main causes of deforestation are: pasture expansion; fires (due to techniques used to manage pastures and the strong dry season); land speculation; illegal logging; illegal roads (Phillips 2007); and mining The primary threats to forest under different tenure arrangements as perceived by the proponent at the outset of the initiative Table 6.1 Primary forest threats in different areas of SFX Triunfo do Xingu Environmental Protected Area (APA Triunfo do Xingu) small-scale agriculture and illegal logging SFX is also known for having high levels of illegal slavery (or bonded labor) among rural laborers The municipality has one of the highest incidences of slave labor and exploitation of workers in subhuman conditions in Brazil (GPTEC/UFRJ 2011) The most disadvantaged actors in the area are smallholders in partnership with SEMA for the state of Pará the SFX Municipal Secretariat of Environment (SEMMA) and the Alto Xingu Association for Agriculture Development (ADAFAX) in collaboration with various state and local partners As there are different local actors (civil society grassroots communities) involved in the design and implementation of the initiative it has a higher chance of reaching its goals as it facilitates coordination of different interests and actors it also creates large transaction costs that could limit its success Livestock at Santa Bárbara Farm (the biggest farm in SFX) The primary sources of start-up funding for the initiative were the Vale Fund the Norwegian International Climate and Forest Initiative the Anne Ray Charitable Trust and the Moore Foundation Because of the perceived risks of relying on voluntary carbon markets for financing the proponents decided to only sell credits in a regulated market under the UNFCCC they do not plan to certify the initiative under any voluntary market scheme such as VCS they aim to obtain additional financing through economic instruments adopted by the Brazilian Government under its REDD+ strategy (still under development) and local governments have historically incentivized deforestation in the state of Pará by promoting activities that are the driving forces behind forest loss (Barreto et al the federal government has also made reducing deforestation a policy priority Pará and the municipality of SFX have been under considerable pressure to reduce deforestation The policy mix to achieve this goal includes measures such as: (i) the Programa Municípios Verdes (Green Municipalities Program) and (ii) the Municipal Embargo Municípios Verdes was launched in 2011 and it helped reduce deforestation levels from 6000 km2 to 3000 km2 in its first year (Pará 2012) One requirement for municipalities to participate in the program is to create a pact for achieving zero illegal deforestation by 2020 SFX’s local government signed the municipal pact with diverse local representatives and producer associations in 2011 It also established a commission under the pact to serve as a forum for inclusive environmental governance The involvement of smallholders in the commission has been a crucial step given their exclusion from previous political processes (Schneider et al The commission’s goal is to define a long-term agenda to sustain anti-deforestation efforts in the municipality it lacks a clear decision-making process and financial resources given that it currently relies on funding provided by TNC The most effective action for reducing deforestation in SFX has been the federal blacklist for embargoed municipalities SFX has topped the list of municipalities in the Brazilian Amazon for rates of deforestation and in 2008 it was included in the Ministry of Environment’s blacklist of embargoed municipalities all farmers in the municipality have faced restricted access to credit and other sanctions According to the former municipal Secretary of the Environment these sanctions include constant monitoring and inspection of land-use operations and restrictions on issuing licenses for activities with environmental impacts The consequences of being blacklisted were quickly felt in the municipality as expansion of cattle pastures nearly came to a halt and deforestation fell significantly municipalities are required to reduce their rates of deforestation and register 80% of private properties in the CAR system which includes geo-referenced property information serves as a first step towards clarifying tenure and allows landholders to access subsidized credit The embargo led to implementation of the CAR system in SFX More than 80% of private properties have been registered Another outcome of the embargo was that the national government was able to share responsibility for reducing deforestation with the municipal government and private actors which was crucial to improving governance and reducing deforestation deforestation rates started to rise again (PRODES/INPE 2014) suggesting that other measures may be needed to reach a zero deforestation goal over the long term TNC was the first organization to involve local actors in SFX in actions related to REDD+ the pilot program focused on financial and technical support for CAR implementation Due to the lack of state resources and institutional capacity for CAR implementation TNC supported the process with a USD 19 million grant from the Amazon Fund (distributed among 12 Amazonian municipalities) and financial resources from USAID and the Vale Fund Analysis by TNC (Balieiro 2013) showed that deforestation in 2011 and 2012 increased in areas registered in CAR and in land reform settlements Just 9% (2011) and 0.6% (2012) of deforestation occurred on indigenous lands and no deforestation happened inside conservation units This reflects a recent pattern in the state of Pará where deforestation has been particularly high in land reform settlements (Brandão et al Many of these settlements were established by the government in the 1970s and 1980s and are now abandoned; smallholders live there largely without government support Laws against deforestation are difficult to enforce in these areas because INCRA (a federal government agency) owns the land local actors do not have any sort of incentive to change their land use They feel helpless and blame the national government and INCRA for not helping them develop land-use alternatives and land management plans Deforestation in the settlements is a result of smallholder livelihood strategies with higher deforestation in areas where cattle ranching is the primary land use (Pacheco 2009) will not assure conservation by smallholders (Gould 2006; Robinson et al deforestation may initially increase when land rights are secured since subsidized credit for ranching is liberated for properties in CAR A recent study concluded that CAR alone was ineffective in reducing deforestation in Mato Grosso and Pará from 2008 to 2012 (Azevedo et al it is important to combine CAR registration with other incentives for landowners to meet environmental criteria given the importance of cattle ranching in the local economy TNC is promoting both improved pasture management and alternatives to draw people out of cattle ranching The initiative has evolved since its conception changing its name and intervention area more than once the REDD+ nomenclature was misunderstood at the local level the market-based connotation of REDD+ was of little interest; for large producers it seemed like an opportunity for profit; and for indigenous groups it tapped into anti-REDD+ sentiments TNC eliminated the term ‘REDD+’ from the name of the initiative even though actions to reduce deforestation remain at its core Figure 6.2 summarizes the main events and interventions of the initiative to date Figure 6.2 Timeline of the REDD+ initiative in SFX The pilot program combines command-and-control economic incentives and information-sharing strategies The specific strategies are land-use zoning; improved enforcement and compliance with environmental legislation; sustainable finance and management for indigenous and protected areas; sustainable production alternatives for local actors; technical assistance and promotion of alternative livelihoods; restoration of degraded lands; enhanced participation of vulnerable groups in REDD+ related decision making; economic opportunities; and shared lessons (Table 6.2) Table 6.2 The Sustainable Landscapes Pilot Program strategies Environmental and territorial management and governance These strategies were designed to support local actors in the transition towards a low-carbon economy many smallholders have the will to reduce deforestation but they lack the technical and financial means to make the transition from extensive cattle production they need technical support to adopt agricultural practices that are more profitable on smaller areas of land While the focus of the pilot program is to reduce deforestation and forest degradation co-benefits of the initiative include reduction in poverty and social inequality along with enhanced environmental governance One important recent achievement in June 2014 was the launch of the Terra Verde Fund which will channel support for sustainable production and REDD+ with increased autonomy for local actors (TNC 2013b) The fund is intended to provide a less bureaucratic and more decentralized process for accessing resources when compared to existing state and national mechanisms It was created by TNC and the Brazilian Biodiversity Fund (Funbio) through a participatory and inclusive approach in 2012–2013 and will be managed by local organizations local actors expressed the importance of meeting social economic and structural needs through differentiated benefits in line with the already established municipal pact for reducing deforestation The pact commits the local government to fulfilling its obligations by granting licenses facilitating the land tenure clarification process increasing access to credit and providing infrastructure it commits rural producers to comply with environmental regulations and to adopt sustainable models of production The Terra Verde Fund is expected to provide financial support for achieving these goals while the pact acts as an informal local contract It is important to note that both performance-based and up-front benefits are part of the pilot program is an up-front benefit that positions actors to receive performance-based benefits such as access to the Terra Verde Fund and technical assistance for implementation of best management practices Performance-based benefits will be based on progress in reducing emissions (Griscom and Cortez 2011) The proponents are still deciding whether to offer PES as a positive incentive since opportunity costs are high in the area and they want to prioritize benefits that help local actors make the transition to a low-carbon economy TNC is still collecting data and producing a forestry inventory to define reference levels for the area Griscom and Kerkering (2010) estimated that 34.6 million tCO2e were emitted from deforestation and degradation each year from over 16 million ha of forests within the SFX accounting area The majority of these emissions (~90%) were from deforestation and the remaining 10% from forest degradation As much as 80% of annual emissions from deforestation and degradation came from the 9 million ha that constitute the northern region of SFX deforestation is highest (3.8%) in land reform settlements and second highest on private lands (3.2%) Deforestation was relatively low in conservation units (0.18%); the lowest rates of deforestation occurred on indigenous lands (0.06%) CIFOR-GCS surveyed a random sample of 124 families Information on community characteristics was also collected (Tables 6.3 All interviews were conducted between September and October 2010 Table 6.3 Characteristics of the four communities studied based on the 2010 survey Road usable by four-wheel drive vehicles in all seasons Distance to closest market by most common means of transport (km/min) Crop with highest production value per household on average Price of a hectare of good quality agricultural land (USD) Most people living in the sample communities2 came from other regions of Brazil especially the central and southern parts of the country Rising land prices in southern Brazil (relative to the north) were one catalyst for this migration land conflicts are an intrinsic characteristic of the area Land tenure was considered secure in SFX2 and SFX3 as they are located in land reform settlement areas Residents of the other two communities reported feelings of insecurity as they were informally settled on public lands without any land documentation (Duchelle et al The main reported causes of deforestation and degradation in the communities were: large-scale ranching (SFX1) small-scale traditional agriculture (all communities) SFX3 and SFX4) and subsistence fuelwood collection/charcoal production (SFX1) Local land-use and livelihood dynamics reflected a high reliance on livestock (especially cattle ranching) and agricultural production (Figures 6.3 and 6.4) which motivates promotion of better cattle ranching practices as an initiative strategy and wage labor is a significant source of household income Another important source of income is the Bolsa Família (family stipend) program which has been credited with alleviating absolute poverty in Brazil; it is also blamed for the spread of clientelism and patronage and the growing dependence of Brazil’s poor on income transfers rather than on productive employment (Hall 2012) Figure 6.3 Sources of income for all households in sample (n = 124) Figure 6.4 Sources of income for average household by community (or village) (+/- SE) (n = 124) Average annual household income in the communities was between USD 10,184 and USD 11,835 (Table 6.4) and most households considered their income to be sufficient for their needs (Table 6.4) the number of households practicing permanent agriculture increased while the number practicing swidden agriculture and the area used for swidden agriculture decreased in three out of four communities respondents in community meetings indicated that production of cocoa had increased over the two years prior to the survey Reasons cited by respondents included farmers’ need to diversify agricultural production and the high income earned from cocoa Local associations and NGOs have promoted this expansion of cocoa production because it is produced in an agroforestry system and because it has the potential to be more profitable than cattle cocoa production is now the main alternative to cattle ranching in the municipality with a recent price increase and TNC support for implementation of best management practices (O Globo 2014) Table 6.4 Socioeconomic characteristics of households interviewed in 2010 Years of education (adults ≥ 16 years old) Total value of transportation assets (USD) a Total annual income (12 months prior to survey) from agriculture in USD; currency converted using yearly average provided by the World Bank b Total livestock value at the time of interview other natural habitat and residential areas controlled by the household Households did not rely heavily on the forest and environment as an income source in any of the communities (Figures 6.3 and 6.4; Table 6.5) Households reported using forests mainly for collection of wild fruits (SFX1 and SFX4) with the first two sets of products collected mostly by women and the last two by men None of the households received forest-related PES Table 6.5 Indicators of household forest dependence based on the 2010 survey With agriculture as a primary or secondary occupation (adults ≥ 16 years old)c With a forest-based primary or secondary occupation (adults ≥ 16 years old)d Reporting increased consumption of forest productse Reporting decreased consumption of forest productse Obtaining cash income from forest productsf Reporting an increase in cash income from forestf Reporting a decrease in cash income from forestf Reporting fuelwood or charcoal as primary cooking source Reporting decreased opportunity for clearing forestg of hectares cleared over the past two years among households that reported clearing of any forest of hectares left fallow among households that reported leaving any land fallow c Percentage of households with at least one adult reporting cropping as a primary or secondary livelihood d Percentage of households with at least one adult reporting forestry as a primary or secondary livelihood e Percentage of households among those that reported any consumption of forest products over the past two years f Percentage of households among those that reported any cash income from forest products over the past two years Community members are normally organized in a local association and choose leaders by consensus to represent them in important meetings outside the communities Some of them are also part of other local organizations The participation of smallholders in these networks and unions encourages them to have environmental awareness (Schneider et al The role of women is still to be strengthened Most women in the sample communities felt they were not well represented in decision-making processes concerning the community because of women’ s lack of interest and time spent on household activities TNC aims to develop strategies for women’s empowerment promotion and articulation in the municipal commission and in local decision-making Smallholders are key to reducing deforestation rates in SFX Those living in land reform settlements (SFX2 and SFX3) are responsible for high rates of deforestation and lack incentives and enforcement measures to change their land-use practices they are the group that is expected to make the greatest contribution to reduced carbon emissions by changing their land or forest use The mix of strategies designed by the pilot program reflects the diversity of smallholder needs that must be met in order for them to change their land- and forest-use practices Examples include the dissemination of better practices for cattle ranching cocoa production) and facilitating environmental compliance through CAR implementation and restoration activities Because these benefits focus on ‘asset building’ (Pirard and Treyer 2010) their performance is more challenging to measure than that of ‘use restricting’ benefits a mix of measures to reduce deforestation – beyond command and control – is important in SFX given the diversity of actors involved Yet this creates the challenge of coordinating these different measures tailored to motivate different actors to change their BAU land-use practices The Terra Verde Fund is designed to address this challenge by supporting a multidimensional approach to benefit-sharing instead of a one-size-fits-all approach (see Gebara 2013) Based on experience with the municipal pact TNC believes that the greatest challenge facing the initiative is land tenure clarification since this depends on the will of government agencies Tenure clarification has been considered key to implementation of both regulatory and incentive-based REDD+ mechanisms (Duchelle et al and is central to many discourses about REDD+ ‘tenure first then REDD+ second’; ‘no rights land tenure clarification may inadvertently support ranching and other activities that drive deforestation by offering access to benefits that require land titles such as public subsidies for ranching and agriculture The SFX initiative also faces challenges that are common to many REDD+ initiatives such as the lack of state and municipal policies to specifically regulate REDD+ corruption and limited governance capacity This initiative provides insight on the trade-offs involved in engaging diverse local stakeholders Relying on existing institutions to engage stakeholders in REDD+ initiatives can increase legitimacy existing institutions often need to be adapted or strengthened in order to be effective To overcome path dependency and ‘stickiness’ (Baumgartner et al the creation of new institutions and the introduction of new actors can also help (Brockhaus and Angelsen 2012) Local actors should be engaged early on and eventually lead the process in order to mobilize broad support effective engagement of local actors is a costly and time-consuming endeavor and requires strong partnerships to be implemented successfully An enabling policyscape that includes a mix of regulatory economic and informational measures greatly facilitates buy-in from local actors including their agreement on a common objective actors may work together successfully despite past or current conflicts Diverse stakeholders with conflicting interests require diverse incentives there should be an early focus on what types of benefits motivate which actors (Gebara 2013) Promoting sustainable landscapes and low-carbon strategies comes with the challenge of offering sufficiently large portfolios of technological alternatives allowing smallholders to choose from diverse livelihood strategies within the same intervention The ‘asset-building’ strategy and investment in sustainable land uses may be the most appropriate approaches to move a region onto a sustained low-carbon development path it is more difficult to monitor and control performance in these approaches compared to a single-use restricting payment scheme the proponents must ensure that actors who benefit from different strategies are those who actually stop deforesting Experience with CAR in SFX highlights the possibility that benefits might inadvertently result in increased forest clearing While CAR enables improved environmental monitoring it also allows access to subsidized credit for cattle ranching the proponents have responded to this concern by disseminating information about ‘low-carbon credit,’ such as through the federal program for low-carbon agriculture (ABC program) TNC believes that despite the challenges of working at a large scale critical on-the-ground problems are linked to a wider context that encompasses different actors and thus a large-scale approach is necessary to achieve transformational change through REDD+ Given that the REDD+ arena is characterized by a multitude of actors at different levels that operate within existing institutions interests and ideas (Brockhaus and Angelsen 2012) such an approach makes sense to generate lessons and overcome complex challenges the SFX initiative shows that REDD+ is losing some of the initial characteristics that made it such a novelty The initiative is now targeting broader and multilevel goals rather than focusing exclusively on climate change mitigation and results-based funding for reduced deforestation This mitigates the risk of losing financial support if carbon funds do not materialize While such broader strategies can be advantageous broadening the focus too much can present a barrier to adopting the performance-based measures that were originally at the heart of REDD+ (Sunderlin et al The enabling policyscape for REDD+ needs to be shaped by strong measures to remove the incentives that drive deforestation This will allow transformational change that will outlast REDD+ I am deeply grateful to the families of SFX and surrounding areas for their patience and generosity while sharing their time and knowledge also played a key role in enabling this research were crucial and always accessible in sharing their knowledge and their experiences with the initiative special thanks to the 2010 field research surpervisors: Gisele Aparecida Monteiro and Leonela Guimaraes and to the members of the field team for their outstanding contribution: Rosiany Miranda 1 The Sustainable Landscapes Pilot Program was formerly called the Central Xingu REDD+ Pilot Program Due to local actors’ difficulties in understanding REDD+ and uncertainties regarding REDD+ at the international level 2 The local term for communities is comunidades the world’s largest remaining tropical forest or 85% of the Brazilian Amazon and 43% of Brazil’s land area aggressive land development strategies made Brazil the world’s largest deforesting country: annual forest loss peaked in 1995 and again in 2004 with much of that cleared land ending up as cattle pasture Timber extraction still only plays a minor and indirect role in Brazil’s forest carbon losses Large- and smallholders alike contribute to deforestation facilitated by policy drivers such as subsidized agricultural credits large-scale road building and resettlement programs (May et al The resettlement programs involve the colonization of smallholders into land reform settlements managed by Brazil’s agrarian reform institute where there are typically high levels of deforestation due in part to the use of forest clearing as a way to secure tenure rights (Brandão et al Brazil has gradually cut Amazon deforestation by a spectacular 79% to ‘just’ 0.6 million ha in 2012 (INPE 2014a) This reduction mostly predated the emergence of REDD+ as an international initiative: it was the result of a series of policies plus a slowdown in the growth of commodity prices that curbed private investments in land clearing (Assunção et al many deforestation-sensitive civil society representatives entered the Lula administration and the Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Deforestation in the Amazon Region (PPCDAM) has since functioned as an interministerial coordination tool 19 million ha of new protected areas were created and large tracts of indigenous territories also gained official recognition Satellite-based monitoring of changes in forest cover principally by the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) empowered timely command-and-control enforcement actions by Brazil’s environmental police IBAMA – perhaps the single most effective action to curb deforestation Municipalities with high deforestation were blacklisted and consequently blocked from certain resource transfers from central government municipalities had to register 80% of their private properties in the CAR system – a step toward compliance with the Brazilian Forest Code and tenure regularization – and reduce the area deforested annually below predetermined thresholds commodity roundtables increased private sector environmental compliance in supply chains Brazil thus became an ‘early bird’ showcase for how REDD+ countries could potentially turn around high-deforestation scenarios to mitigate forest carbon emissions substantially (UNEP 2012) Acre and Mato Grosso played proactive roles in achieving these conservation gains including through six Amazonian states’ participation in the Governors’ Climate and Forests Task Force over 50 Brazilian subnational REDD+ initiatives emerged the highest among all tropical countries (CIFOR 2014) Many of these initiatives are supported by the Amazon Fund funded by USD 1 billion from Norway for 2008–2015 (plus some German and national Petrobras funds) is managed by the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) and supports projects by government agencies NGOs and universities that demonstrate a direct or indirect contribution to reducing deforestation and degradation (Amazon Fund 2014) Various state governments also participated in subnational initiatives or have since created jurisdictional REDD+ programs Perhaps the most interesting potential of these subnational initiatives is to pilot intervention mixes at subnational scales of aggregation It has been argued that the recent successful anti-deforestation policies at the national level have emphasized ‘sticks’ over ‘carrots,’ putting most opportunity costs of avoided deforestation on Amazon land users which calls into question the political sustainability of these drastic reductions (Börner et al many subnational initiatives are pursuing more balanced policy mixes of forest law enforcement (negative) incentives conditional and/or nonconditional landholder (positive) incentives and land-tenure regularization (enabling) measures The customization of these intervention mixes to different subnational REDD+ contexts may thus also provide some valuable lessons about how to design national policy mixes Brazil is currently developing a legal framework for REDD+ implementation under a working group led by the Ministry of Environment and is also being informed by pilot REDD+ experiences such as Juma – the oldest Brazilian REDD+ initiative (Börner et al 2013; also see Chapter 3: Bolsa Floresta Initiative) Subnational initiatives could cross-fertilize these complex national efforts the Brazilian case also features significant challenges on how to equitably share REDD+ benefits across levels of governance (local forested countries with multilevel governance structures dois fazendeiros foram multados em R$ 100 milhões por incêndios em Corumbá - CPA-CBMMS / Mairinco de Pauda The data comes from the Monitor do Fogo platform a partnership between Mapbiomas and the Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM fires consumed an area the size of the state of Roraima between January and December this year representing a 150% increase compared to 2023 In addition to the fires, the two municipalities share another statistic. They are home to the country's largest cattle herds there are more than 2.5 million head of cattle considering its population of 65,000 residents.  The use of fire is common in agricultural practices Ipam's Science Director and coordinator of Mapbiomas Fogo “And the use of fire as a farming practice in a very dry year means that the potential for this fire to get out of control is huge That's what happened,” she says.  In September, agents from the Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Resources (IBAMA, in Portuguese) fined two farmers accused of setting fire to an area of approximately 333,000 hectares in Corumbá The burned area is twice the size of the city of São Paulo and the fine was US$8,8 million for Ademir Aparecido de Jesus and the same for Luiz Gustavo Battaglin Maciel.  the Federal Police launched Operation Arraial São João to investigate the occurrence of human-caused wildfires in the municipality data revealed that the burned area is a repeated target of this type of environmental crime and land grabbing with fraudulent claims to government agencies according to the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change the municipality that lost the most surface water in 2023 these regions have become more flammable.  Alencar points out that human action fuels a cycle of droughts and fires “The fire started with human action and spread but because of a condition brought about by the climate.” Drought is aggravated by fires and deforestation.  All original content produced and editorially authored by Brasil de Fato may be reproduced provided it is not altered and proper credit is given All original content produced and editorially authored by Brasil de Fato may be reproduced it might be too early to declare those 2020 emissions reduction targets a foregone conclusion it appears even Brazil’s protected areas aren’t currently safe from forest destruction the clearing in Triunfo do Xingu and elsewhere in the Amazon indicate that the battle against clear-cutting of primary forest is not over.” Weisse and Fletcher note that Brazil’s Areas of Environmental Protection (APAs), which do allow for some private land use and ownership, are ripe targets for land-grabbers and ranchers because enforcement of laws and regulations in these areas is “quite weak.” it’s perhaps unsurprising that Triunfo do Xingu would become the target of pasture expansion.” Meanwhile, Brazil has also decreased the size of some protected areas in order to authorize previously illegal occupation or facilitate the construction of hydropower plants like the Belo Monte dam in Pará. Some 45 million hectares (about 174,000 square miles) of protected areas were downgraded or declassified between 1981 and 2010; nearly three-fourths of that total protected area loss has occurred since 2008 the powerful agribusiness lobby in congress has become a dominant force in Brazilian politics “Both actions validated the sense of impunity,” Barreto said believing that the politicians that they fund will legalize illegality the government has been trying to reduce other conservation units but has met some resistance from civil society But politicians running for office (such as Bolsonaro) or the legislature continue to promise less protection.” Presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro is currently leading in the polls is the fact that meatpackers who purchase cattle raised in illegally cleared areas are rarely punished by government officials or the market In March 2017, for instance, Brazil’s environmental protection agency, Ibama, raided two facilities in the state of Pará belonging to the Brazilian company JBS The firm was accused of having purchased thousands of head of cattle raised on illegally deforested Amazonian lands but Barreto says that its meat-packing plants were cleared to recommence operations within days prosecutors did not sanction those meatpackers found not to be fully compliant with an agreement banning the purchase of cattle raised on illegally cleared lands an outspoken supporter of the bancada ruralista Even if authorities in Pará were serious about cracking down on illegal deforestation in Triunfo do Xingu and elsewhere it’s not clear that they’d have the resources to do so There are just 20 forest inspectors for the entire state of Pará which is one-and-a-half times as big as the US state of Texas who say that “government capacity is insufficient for the enormous market incentives to deforest.” Editor’s Note: This story was powered by Places to Watch a Global Forest Watch (GFW) initiative designed to quickly identify concerning forest loss around the world and catalyze further investigation of these areas Places to Watch draws on a combination of near-real-time satellite data automated algorithms and field intelligence to identify new areas on a monthly basis GFW is supporting data driven journalism by providing data and maps generated by Places to Watch Mongabay maintains complete editorial independence over the stories reported using this data Featured Image Credit: Cattle at one of the 70,000 suppliers used by JBS one of Brazil’s largest beef producers The “fortress conservation” model is under pressure in East Africa as protected areas become battlegrounds over history and global efforts to halt biodiversity loss Mongabay’s Special Issue goes beyond the region’s world-renowned safaris to examine how rural communities and governments are reckoning with conservation’s colonial origins and trying to forge a path forward […] Essential digital access to quality FT journalism on any device Complete digital access to quality FT journalism with expert analysis from industry leaders Complete digital access to quality analysis and expert insights complemented with our award-winning Weekend Print edition Terms & Conditions apply Discover all the plans currently available in your country Digital access for organisations. Includes exclusive features and content. See why over a million readers pay to read the Financial Times. The Amazon: Farmers and Ranchers. We help Amazon farmers and ranchers comply with Brazil's Forest Code. Conversion to agriculture and cattle ranching is the greatest threat to the Amazon rainforest. At the current rate, scientists predict that more than half of the Amazon could be cleared or severely degraded within decades. The Conservancy believes that the key to reverse this trend and reconcile the demand for production with conservation is an extraordinarily prescient Brazilian law - the Forest Code, which says that, in the Amazon, farmers and ranchers should retain 80% of their lands under native vegetation. Our work is founded on creating realistic incentives for compliance with the law. We work in several municipalities in the Brazilian Amazon, some of them with the highest deforestation rates in the region: The Conservancy is rapidly becoming known as the organization in Brazil that can enable all levels of Brazilian government to enforce the country’s Forest Code. We will continue to collaborate with the local government to improve its environmental monitoring system for implementation of Brazil’s Forest Code. Print SAO FELIX DO XINGU Brazil  — Over the last four years Wenatoa Parakana has watched the rainforest her ancestors fiercely defended being cut down at a breakneck pace In this remote slice of the Brazilian Amazon pristine jungle is giving way to cattle pastures and loggers are felling thick trees that have stood for centuries wildcat miners are heading deep into the forest in search of gold as she stood outside the cooking hut in her village in the Apyterewa Indigenous reserve hunting in the thinning patches of jungle has become tougher for the roughly 900 Parakana Indigenous people who live in the 1.9-million-acre reserve Illegal mining has polluted the Xingu River But for Wenatoa and other Amazon dwellers, there’s a glimmer of hope on the horizon: Newly elected Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has vowed to halt the destruction of the rainforests and throw invaders out of Indigenous reserves like this one. “Lula is our only hope,” she said. “He will help us.” Politics Voters with no religious affiliation supported Democratic candidates and abortion rights by large percentages in the 2022 midterm elections The results have been stark: Land speculators have encroached deep into the rainforests, and parts of Brazil’s Amazon now emit more carbon than they capture. Scientists warn that the forest is hurtling toward a tipping point at which it will turn into a savanna, with devastating consequences for the global climate. Lula, who is poised to take office Jan. 1 after narrowly defeating Bolsonaro, has promised the government would turn over a new leaf. Making the environment a cornerstone of his agenda, he has vowed to crack down on deforestation, punish those encroaching on the forest and make Brazil a leader in the global scramble to combat climate change. “I am here to say to all of you that Brazil is back,” Lula said at the United Nations climate summit in Egypt last month, as hundreds of attendees cheered and chanted his name. “You all know that we are going to undertake a major fight against deforestation.” Already, Lula has negotiated the relaunch of an international Amazon fund that once bankrolled conservation projects until it was suspended in 2019 amid soaring deforestation, freezing more than $500 million in aid. He is also courting new donors, including the U.S. and Britain, in a bid to raise badly needed cash to fund his ambitious goal of ending deforestation by 2030. In a nod to those on the front lines of the fight to preserve the Amazon, Lula is also widely expected to quickly start demarcating Indigenous lands again, a process paralyzed by Bolsonaro that is widely seen as one of the most effective ways of preserving forests. “It would send a message, not only to Indigenous people, but to anyone worried about the environment,” said Celia Xakriaba, a newly elected Indigenous congresswoman and member of Lula’s transition team. “It’s a unique moment of opportunity, a chance to move forward and reverse the damage.” Lula’s pledges have fueled hopes — at home and abroad — that he may be able to save the Amazon, nearly two-thirds of which lies within Brazil. The rainforest is one of the world’s most important carbon sinks, absorbing about 2 billion metric tons of atmosphere-warming gases per year, but it has lost 10% of its native vegetation over the last four decades, according to a new report. During his two terms in office, between 2003 and 2010, Lula implemented a multi-year plan that slashed deforestation by 80% and turned Brazil into an environmental leader. Now, he plans to replicate this success, by once again beefing up policing and offering communities incentives for preserving the forest. “Lula will have to relaunch this plan, looking at what worked well in the past but also with an eye on the present and the future,” said Mariana Mota, a public policy specialist at Greenpeace Brazil. An illegal logging operation in Humaita, in Brazil’s Amazonas state, on Sept. 17, 2022. (Michael Dantas / AFP/Getty Images) But simply reviving these policies, dismantled under Bolsonaro, may not be enough to curb the destruction this time around. As Lula returns to office, he will face a hostile Congress that includes Bolsonaro allies such as Ricardo Salles, a former environment minister who resigned last year after being linked to an illegal logging scheme. And a powerful farming bloc in Congress could undermine Lula’s efforts to advance a green agenda by pushing forward proposals that aim to make deforestation and land grabbing easier. “It’s essential that these bills don’t advance,” Mota said. “Because if they are approved, it will bury the possibility of Lula fulfilling his promises on deforestation.” With Brazil facing a gaping deficit amid a painful economic slowdown, Lula will also need to look abroad for fresh sources of cash to fund conservation efforts, while convincing lawmakers to remove fiscal barriers that bar him from spending beyond the country’s budget. Experts say that, perhaps most urgently, Lula will have to rebuild the state’s capacity to fight deforestation, bolstering environmental enforcement agencies that were gutted of staff and resources under Bolsonaro. “The government will have to show that things have changed, that Brazil is punishing environmental crimes again,” said Marcio Astrini, executive secretary of Brazil’s Climate Observatory, a coalition of environmental groups. Still, deep in the Amazon, where many survive off the destruction of the rainforest, conservation remains a tough sell. Illegal mining, land grabbing and ranching have become engines of economic growth in some forest communities. Here, the appeal of beef and gold — and the quick cash they bring — is far stronger than greener alternatives. Cattle on a farm in Sao Felix do Xingu, in Brazil’s Para state, in 2021. (Jonne Roriz / Bloomberg via Getty Images) “There will be resistance; these activities won’t stop overnight,” Astrini said. “Because there is a lot of money involved. There was investment in environmental crime over the last four years.” Lula has offered a different, albeit vague, vision. He says communities can earn an income without cutting down trees, instead extracting exotic fruits, and ingredients for new medicines and luxury cosmetics from the jungle. In Triunfo do Xingu, some are already turning their backs on harmful economic models. For decades, Maria da Conceicao Alves Rodrigues, 71, raised cattle on a 30-acre plot of land in this reserve, which has become one of the most deforested slices of the Brazilian Amazon despite being earmarked for sustainable development. Now, her family is planting cocoa trees, helping reforest this patch of jungle. “I didn’t want to mess around with cattle anymore,” Rodrigues said in a shady patch in front of her farmhouse, flanked by acai palms and banana shrubs that have replaced the cattle pasture. Her son, Adivino Estelita Alves, 52, chimed in: “We are planting so we can have an income in the future. Cocoa is a sustainable source.” But their family’s cocoa trees will take years to yield fruit and bring prosperity. And success is far from certain: This year, intense drought killed hundreds of seedlings. Planes dousing pesticides over neighboring soy fields pose yet another threat. “We still can’t live off our harvest,” Alves said. “But we’re planting more and more. We want to succeed.” It would probably be impossible without the help of the Nature Conservancy, a global nonprofit funded by donations from companies such as Amazon and Mondelez, which is guiding farmers including Rodrigues. “For a long time, there wasn’t anything else but cattle here,” said Gustavo Mariano Rezende, a specialist in ecological restoration at the conservancy. “And cocoa has come as this big alternative. But these families still need the know-how to be able to care for it.” Back in Apyterewa, Wenatoa and her family piled into a roughly built wooden house as night fell. Sinking into a hammock, she pulled her toddler into her lap and settled in front of a battered satellite television for the nightly news. A village in the Apyterewa Indigenous reserve, home to the Parakana people. The reserve has been under pressure from deforestation and land grabbing in recent years. (Ana Ionova / For The Times) A solemn-looking Lula spoke from the U.N. climate summit, more than 6,200 miles away. In an impassioned speech, he promised Indigenous people would have a voice in his government. Lula’s legacy in Apyterewa is mixed. The Parakana credit him for demarcating their reserve in 2007, ending a decade-long struggle for land rights. But his government was also the driving force behind the behemoth Belo Monte hydroelectric dam, which wiped out their traditional way of life and bitterly divided the Parakana. Still, Wenatoa and others here seem ready to welcome Lula back with open arms. “We have hope,” she says. “Now that he’s back, things will get better for us.” World & Nation Subscribe for unlimited accessSite Map a mais incendiada do Brasil - Marizilda Cruppe/Greenpeace The Kayapó Indigenous Land was the most scorched Indigenous territory in 2024 this was the most significant fire the teacher had ever seen so desperate… And the fear was clear in their eyes," she says and clouds of insects moving away from the fire drove the animals away… And I'm sure the natural remedies the villagers used were lost too," she laments.  According to Jorge Eduardo Dantas, coordinator of Greenpeace Brazil's Indigenous Peoples Front, the flames that have spread across the territory originated in mining areas "In our first survey about 20 days ago it was clear that the burning areas were mining sites Everything indicated that prospectors were opening new areas," Dantas explains The survey was conducted in September.  the Government Agency for Indigenous People (FUNAI in Portuguese) reported that there were forest fires in the Indigenous Land in July "Most of these were related to mining," the statement said Both Ourilândia and São Félix do Xingu are towns closely linked to mining mining plays a significant economic and political role," explains Dantas.  the Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Resources (IBAMA in Portuguese) conducted Operation Xapiri—Tuíre Kayapó to combat mining on Indigenous land The inspection team dismantled 24 mining camps and 11 offenders were identified and fined the territory has one of Brazil's highest mining alerts: more than 2,000 in less than a year.  The makeshift road tears through the emerald canopy splintering one of the Amazon’s most pristine corridors of rainforest running through the heart of the Terra do Meio Ecological Station swaths of jungle have been razed and turned into pasture Terra do Meio spans 3.37 million hectares (8.33 million acres) across the municipalities of Altamira and São Félix do Xingu it’s part of an ecological mosaic of 28 conservation areas and 21 Indigenous territories that together form a tapestry of forest treasured for its rich biodiversity Although virtually all human activity is barred within Terra do Meio, the reserve has been battered by invasions in recent years, losing 15,740 hectares (39,000 acres) of primary rainforest between 2019 and 2022, according to data from the University of Maryland visualized on Global Forest Watch And, despite a sharp drop in overall deforestation across the Amazon this year, the incursions into Terra do Meio have not let up: satellites detected 171,259 high-confidence deforestation alerts between Jan. 6 and Nov. 20 within the protected reserve, the data show Environmentalists largely blame the devastation within Terra do Meio on pressure from invaders bent on opening up a strategic transport route slicing through the rainforest They say this risks creating a dangerous new route for illegal timber gold and – eventually – soy or beef destined for export “It’s this relentless effort to open up this road,” said Ane Alencar science director at the Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM) “And it’s placing huge pressure on the reserve.” The clandestine road stretches 43 kilometers starting in the Área de Proteção Ambiental (APA) Triunfo do Xingu and running through Terra do Meio before entering into the Iriri State Forest a network of nonprofits monitoring deforestation in the Xingu Basin it halts near another illegal road leading to a clandestine gold mine deep in the rainforest authorities created a barrier at the main entry of the Terra do Meio reserve in a bid to halt the invasions a spokesperson for Brazil’s environmental ministry said Environmental police also carried out a series of operations in the region earlier this year handing out R$ 18.9 million ($3.9 million USD) in fines between April and July placing 2,000 hectares (4,942 acres) under embargo and identifying those responsible for the construction of the illegal road within Terra do Meio But experts worry about a persistent push to open up a final stretch of this clandestine route linking São Félix do Xingu and Novo Progresso Environmental advocates fear this would open the floodgates to destruction in one of the Amazon’s most ecologically rich areas “The impact would be enormous,” said Ane Alencar “The consolidation of this route would be an attack on the heart of Terra do Meio.” The forest around the Xingu Basin has been vanishing for decades – first as newcomers flooded in from other states in search of land they could call their own and as they scrambled to expand their agricultural holdings was created in the early 2000s to protect the region’s dwindling forests from the rapid advance of cattle ranching The corridor was also supposed to offset the environmental and social damage of mega projects like the paving of the BR-163 highway and the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam “The idea was to shield the Xingu and the Indigenous peoples who live here,” said Ivar Busatto “Because they were being circled by these development projects.” But critics say the mosaic is failing to stop incursions into Terra do Meio with much of the deforestation spilling over from neighboring APA Triunfo do Xingu a sustainable development reserve tucked in the heart of Brazil’s largest cattle ranching municipality home to nearly 20 times more livestock than people In recent years, APA Triunfo do Xingu, once intended as a buffer for ecologically important areas like Terra do Meio and Iriri State Forest, has become one of the most deforested slices of the Brazilian Amazon it has lost about a third of its forest cover there is no buffer,” said an environmental advocacy source who works in the region and asked to remain anonymous “What we see are huge areas being deforested and burned right on the doorstep of other protected areas Satellite imagery from Google Timelapse shows how deforestation has progressed in APA Triunfo do Xingu The impact has been clear: deep in Terra do Meio rectangular patches of forest have been replaced by cattle pasture as the clandestine road has opened up access deeper into the territory swaths of the reserve have also been engulfed by devastating fires started next door Cattle ranchers routinely use slash-and-burn farming techniques to renew degraded pastures while speculators seeking to expand their landholdings set fires to finish clearing freshly deforested areas the flames can often spread quickly far beyond the intended area to those interested in restoring or preserving these areas Those who purchase the rights to manage these forests would be granted carbon credits “From the bioeconomy we can build a new economic scenario,” governor Helder Barbalho said at a conference in London earlier this year “These are new opportunities that will generate green jobs and demonstrate that it is possible to reconcile development and sustainability.” A decade-old plan to build a 1,000-kilometer railway connecting Sinop in Mato Grosso to Itaituba remains the region’s most important project for economic growth The railroad has drawn criticism from environmentalists who oppose plans to shrink an important national forest to make construction possible and was suspended temporarily by the Supreme Court last month the illegal road being carved into Terra do Meio would link São Félix do Xingu to important routes for the transport of agricultural products “Just talking about building this railroad has set off a rise in deforestation in this region,” the advocacy source said forest destruction slowed dramatically this year under the leadership of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva who promised to crack down on deforestation and expel illegal miners Lula has scrambled to undo the policies of his predecessor who encouraged development within protected reserves halted the demarcation of Indigenous lands and gutted environmental enforcement agencies of staff and resources federal agencies like Ibama and ICMBio have once again cracked down on environmental crimes in the Amazon embargoing thousands of hectares of land and handing out millions in fines Authorities have also expelled thousands of illegal squatters from Indigenous territories like Yanomami and Apyterewa the government has also been fighting environmental crimes in Terra do Meio the environmental ministry spokesperson said “Invasions have increased in the last four years incentives for mining and livestock farming within protected areas.” And so far, these actions appear to be having a tangible effect on environmental destruction. The Brazilian Amazon saw deforestation fall 61% between January and October, compared to the same period last year, according to data from nonprofit research institute Imazon This marked the lowest rate of deforestation since 2018 “We’ve seen a significant impact from more policing and more engagement from government organs,” said Márcio Santilli co-founder of the Instituto Socioambiental a nonprofit that defends environmental diversity “And this certainly gives fresh force to Lula’s government.” halting forest clearing in many slices of the Amazon has proven difficult Some 3,806 square kilometers of forest were cleared in the first ten months of this year The challenges have been especially clear in Pará which slashed forest clearing by two-thirds this year but still leads the ranking as Brazil’s most deforested state accounting for 31% of the country’s destruction Seven out of the 10 municipalities with the highest rate of deforestation are located within the state “They [authorities] have limited resources so they have to make choices,” Santilli said state authorities have installed permanent bases tasked with combating environmental crime in several regions The state has also launched a high-powered operation dubbed “Curupira,” which has expelled and fined illegal loggers lang-grabbers and ranchers from public forests and protected lands this has not been able to fully halt the advance into Terra do Meio state and federal authorities must join forces in order to truly put an end to incursions into the reserve “The state has put in place supervision and enforcement But it hasn’t been enough to really stop this movement.” Feedback: Use this form to send a message to the editor of this post Xingu records highest deforestation rate since September 2021 telegram Join our Telegram channel! telegram Deforestation gained strength again in 2022 on the Xingu River (PA-MT) The month of April recorded the highest rate since September last year with more than 19 hectares destroyed throughout the basin 1 hectare can be considered as a football field Compared to March, the jump is 81%. The data are from Sirad X, the Xingu+ Network's remote monitoring system, in a monthly deforestation report (access the report) Kayapó (PA) recorded more than 180 hectares deforested in April The Parabubure Indigenous Land (MT) is the second most deforested Indigenous Land in April with an increase of more than 4.000% compared to the same period last year The municipalities of Altamira (PA) and São Félix do Xingu (PA) occupy the first and second places among the most deforested in the month of April Altamira has surpassed the mark of 8 thousand hectares Both municipalities recorded increases in deforestation of 204% and 253% the large livestock activity in São Félix do Xingu contributed to the serious scenario of increased emission of greenhouse gases The municipality concentrates the largest herd in the country with more than two million heads and ranks as the largest emitter of gases in Brazil the Triunfo do Xingu Environmental Protection Area (APA) was the most destroyed it represents 84% ​​of deforestation in the Xingu Conservation Units (UCs) The APA Triunfo do Xingu is historically the most deforested UC in the region as a result of the large movement of land grabbers They deforest to take possession of the unit's lands with an increase of 1.875% compared to March the Terra do Meio Ecological Station (Escec) was the second most deforested And for the first time since the beginning of monitoring the Iriri State Forest (Fes) recorded deforestation in April.  deforestation started earlier in Fes do Iriri but this year 453 hectares were deforested in April,” says Ricardo Abad geoprocessing analyst at the Observatório de Olho no Xingu This is the highest rate of deforestation in the territory since May last year The growing deforestation in the UCs puts pressure on neighboring territories and jeopardizes the connectivity of the corridor of protected areas of the Xingu which today is the last barrier protecting the Eastern Amazon from deforestation There are 26 million hectares of protected forests whose fragmentation can impoverish the forest affecting thousands of species that depend on their connection further weakening their ability to resist the changes around them It is estimated that 20% of the original cover of the Amazon has already been deforested bringing the forest closer to the “point of no return” the moment when degradation will reach a limit after which the forest will no longer be able to exist as the know today without the capacity to continue exercising its function of provider of rain Destruction of the Xingu Corridor could accelerate this process The most relevant news for you to form your opinion on the socio-environmental agenda LAST ISSUE Restoring the Rainforest with Cocoa Trees To help restore the Amazon while providing better livelihoods The Nature Conservancy (TNC) has pioneered an initiative to work with farmers plant sustainable agro-forests of cocoa trees banana trees and a mix of native hardwood trees Cacao has a high commercial value and is a remarkable alternative for producers to increase their incomes sustainably with the Cacau Mais Sustentável (More Sustainable Cocoa) project and aims to scale this solution to other municipalities in Pará and to other states in Brazil "It is through TNC that we have the technical support to farm the right way We are contributing to the preservation of nature and generating income." That’s what Brazil’s federal government said to Benício Mariano Dutra 15 years ago when he moved to São Félix do Xingu Benício was promised 100 hectares if he promised to clear the forest and raise cattle Once blanketed with virgin rainforest that was home to indigenous peoples São Félix do Xingu is now Brazil’s sixth largest municipality—nearly the size of Portugal—and holds the largest cattle herd in the country—over 2 million head The reality of cattle ranching in the Amazon rainforest is this: once the trees are cleared the soil has few nutrients and is not suitable for growing grass pastures This nutrient deficiency leads to a vicious cycle of deforestation: farmers clear the forest then the pasture becomes degraded and more forest is cleared to start the process all over again São Félix do Xingu was at the top of Brazil’s “black list” of cities with the highest rates of deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions the city has reversed this trend and is at the top for the highest reduction in deforestation He sought out advice from a local cooperative—CAPRU—who told him to plant cocoa trees which are native to the Amazon rainforest and provide a stable income Benício planted his first cocoa crop in 2004 The Nature Conservancy is working with farmers like Benício to plant sustainable agro-forests of cocoa trees banana trees and a mix of native hardwood trees to help restore the rainforest while providing a better livelihood the Conservancy is teaching farmers practices that improve soil conditions for cattle ranching and in turn stop the deforestation cycle “Our goal is to reduce deforestation by 97 percent and remove São Félix do Xingu from the environmental black list,” said Rodrigo Mauro Freire the Conservancy’s Amazon Forest & Climate Coordinator “We hope this will at the same time improve the livelihoods of farmers ranchers and local communities and provide a model for sustainable beef production and economic development in the Amazon.” As our world’s population continues to grow The Conservancy believes through these combined efforts to improve soil conditions and reforest with native cocoa trees Brazil can double its food production without habitat loss This could ignite global change in our food supply chain and be a big win for people and for conservation Satellites have detected forest clearing within Triunfo do Xingu this year an area that’s supposed to be a legally protected swath of Amazon rainforest in Brazil’s northern state of Pará the protected area was created in 2006 as a sustainable use reserve meaning that within its bounds (an area more than half the size of Belgium) landowners are legally required to keep 80% of their forests intact However, despite this requirement, 35% of the primary (or old-growth) forest within the Triunfo do Xingu Environmental Protection Area (APA) was lost between 2006 and 2021 — more than 533,000 hectares (1.32 million acres), according to satellite data from the University of Maryland (UMD), visualized on the Global Forest Watch platform That makes the Triunfo do Xingu APA one of the most deforested slices of the Brazilian Amazon in recent years, putting it in the top three of Brazil’s list of most deforested protected reserves. The highest amount of forest loss since the creation of the protected area occurred in 2020 at almost 70,000 hectares (173,000 acres) — an area nearly the size of New York City loss that year was still nearly twice the average rate between 2002 and 2021 Deforestation in the region is largely driven by cattle ranching, according to previous reporting in 2020 farmers and ranchers use slash-and-burn techniques to clear forest for pasture there are nearly 20 times more cattle than people “The Triunfo do Xingu APA was created to allow some kind of human activity in a sustainable way,” Larissa Amorim, a researcher at Imazon, an NGO monitoring the forest clearing, told Mongabay in 2021 “But we see that it is not sustainable at all And the illegal activities that are taking place there end up spilling beyond it.” The Triunfo do Xingu APA was intended to protect wildlife and serves as a buffer for vulnerable surrounding areas such as the Apyterewa Indigenous Territory and the massive Terra do Meio Ecological Station “[The Terra do Meio Ecological Station] should be completely preserved,”  Rômulo Batista, a campaigner with Greenpeace Brazil, told Mongabay in 2021 “With this weakening of [Triunfo do Xingu] it has become easier to reach conservation parks It ultimately didn’t end up becoming the buffer it was supposed to become.” Though cattle ranching remains the main culprit behind forest loss, the region has also emerged as a center of land grabbing and illegal mining by invaders who are betting on the continued loosening of environmental regulations and enforcement “We have seen a wave of land grabbing,” Fonseca said “The pattern has changed — many of these openings are now for speculation only Protecting Triunfo do Xingu from illegal deforestation and fires has proven extra challenging because it is remote and accessible primarily by boat from the town of São Félix do Xingu and the capacity to prosecute those who deforest and set illegal fires has been limited across Brazil as government agencies and law enforcement that once operated in the Amazon have been largely defunded under the current administration Bolsonaro has also blamed fires on Indigenous and traditional peoples 3.75 million hectares (9.27 million acres) of tropical primary rainforest were lost across the planet a rate of about 10 football fields per minute More than 40% of that primary forest loss last year occurred in Brazil “The main driver is the total lack of environmental policy from this government,” said Batista “People who are disposed to invading are feeling emboldened “These are regions that have the greatest ecological importance and that must be protected to ensure the integrity of the rainforest as a whole,” Batista added “And this is what we are ultimately losing with this surge in deforestation.” Liz Kimbrough is a staff writer for Mongabay. Find her on Twitter @lizkimbrough_ FEEDBACK: Use this form to send a message to the author of this post An illegal gold mine in Sao Felix do Xingu Photographer: Mauro Pimentel/AFP/Getty Images 2022 at 5:30 PM EDTBookmarkSaveLock This article is for subscribers only.The threat to the Brazilian Amazon posed by illegal mining is so big that the formal mining industry is trying to get the country’s central bank involved With large companies and non-governmental organizations pushing for a crackdown on unregulated gold flows central bank chief Roberto Campos Neto pledged to look into ways to improve supervision of bank-authorized buyers mining institute Ibram said in a statement after meeting with Campos Neto Ibram and the federal police are also developing a traceability system using radioisotopes to establish a DNA for Brazilian gold Match Expires at Midnight GIVE NOW Few would argue with the idea that deforestation-free supply chains are a good thing—in theory These are some of the questions that are still to be determined as the countdown to the biggest deal in town for deforestation commitments worldwide ticks down to just a thousand days In 2014, more than fifty companies and a number of governments signed on to the New York Declaration on Forests and Climate but the most important was a commitment to “eliminate” deforestation from four commodity supply chains—beef and palm oil—which account for somewhere around 80 percent of all tropical deforestation and to do it by or during (the text is deliberately ambiguous) 2020 While progress has been made in some commodities and places there is a whack-a-mole feel to deforestation in supply chains more generally Soy in Brazil gets its act together while soy in Bolivia and Paraguay explodes; no sooner does palm oil in Indonesia improve before palm oil starts driving deforestation faster in Ecuador and Peru beef—by far the biggest deforestation driver of all—sits in the back row trying to avoid the teacher’s attention hoping nobody will notice the far fewer number of commitments beef market actors have made Betting on most of those concerned missing the ball has been a successful strategy for them so far as the media and various campaign groups go after the soy and palm oil players who for all their issues continue to be the two New York Declaration sectors to have made the most effort to manage deforestation in their supply chains that environmental groups have never given them the straightforward guidance they need to implement their commitments which sounds simple but isn’t—consider the subtle distinctions between a forest and a wood How should progress be measured and reported there is a risk that each company uses a different standard no claims can be verified against an accepted benchmark and no company will be able to make credible claims of progress in implementing their New York Declaration commitments The environmental movement has responded. Earlier this year, The Nature Conservancy helped to put together a critical mass of NGOs—WWF, Greenpeace, Rainforest Alliance and others—to provide that guidance, in an initiative called the Accountability Framework. The initiative website now hosts a set of guiding principles posted for companies and other interested parties to comment on The public comment period is currently open A more detailed operational manual will also be coming out in 2018 but we still have two years to hit the New York Declaration timeline Companies have through this month to comment: it would be a good present for the world if we can all buckle down to implementing next year and starting to make the New Declaration more than a statement of intent David Cleary is responsible for TNC's global agriculture strategy focusing on key conservation issues like water use swaths of lush forest have been engulfed by flames in recent days a patch of untouched jungle has been almost entirely cleared this year In countless other parts of this vast protected region the Amazon is being cut down and burned at a dizzying speed The Área de Proteção Ambiental (APA) Triunfo do Xingu spans some ​​1.7 million hectares (4.2 million acres) across the municipalities of São Félix do Xingu and Altamira long strongholds of Brazilian cattle ranching It encompasses thousands of hectares of dense jungle and boasts a rich diversity of plant and animal species It is also home to Indigenous groups and traditional peoples the territory is supposed to be used only for sustainable development with landowners required to keep some 80% of the forest intact When it was created more than a decade ago Triunfo do Xingu was intended as a buffer that would protect vulnerable areas beyond its boundaries like the Apyterewa Indigenous Territory and the Terra do Meio Ecological Station The ecologically-rich Xingu Basin – within which it is nestled – is made up of some 28 conservation areas and 18 Indigenous territories becoming one of the most deforested regions in the Amazon in recent years It lost some 436,000 hectares of forest between 2006 and 2019 according to satellite data from the University of Maryland (UMD) the territory has lost nearly 30% of its forest cover who works for The Nature Conservancy (TNC) a nonprofit focused on environmental conservation “The problem is that a lack of land oversight led to this area being more and more occupied more and more threatened,” Fonseca said in an interview in late July “And this will now only worsen going forward.” The incursion into Triunfo do Xingu has only intensified this year amid a wider surge in deforestation and burning across the Brazilian Amazon some 6,973 hectares of forest were cleared in APA – accounting for two-thirds of deforestation in protected areas within the Xingu Basin a network of environmental and Indigenous groups working in the region “These are areas where there definitely should not be any burning,” said one advocacy source who asked to remain anonymous due to security concerns the surrounding territories it was meant to protect have also come under pressure the deforestation is now chipping away at the Apyterewa Indigenous Territory the clearing is edging into the Kayapo Indigenous Territory – “something we had never seen before,” Fonseca said In the Trincheira Bacajá Indigenous Territory deforestation rose tenfold in May and June indigenous territories beyond,” Fonseca said “It ultimately didn’t end up becoming the buffer it was supposed to become.” The destruction in Triunfo do Xingu is emblematic of a wider assault on the Amazon that is picking up speed this year. While large-scale burning captured international headlines in 2019, there are already signs it could worsen this year: in July, fires surged 28% over the same period last year, according to data from INPE Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research The number of fires has soared in Triunfo do Xingu too NASA satellites picked up 3,842 fire alerts in the territory August and September – when Brazil’s fire season is normally at its peak – are expected to bring even more intense burning perpetrators had previously invested in deforesting the land and are now back to finish clearing it by setting it ablaze director of science at the Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM) The bulk of the deforestation and burning across the Amazon is taking place on public lands that are “directly the responsibility of the government,” Alencar said She added that many of the areas under attack have not yet been demarcated or are shielded by weak environmental protection “We’re seeing a huge volume of deforestation it signals there are people investing in deforesting the Amazon,” she said during a press briefing in late July the drivers of deforestation in Triunfo do Xingu are diverse and complex About two-thirds of the protected area lies within São Félix do Xingu Brazil’s largest cattle-producing municipality and home to nearly 20 times more livestock than people the biggest threat to the conservation area was cattle ranching as more and more of its forests gave way to sprawling pastures But environmentalists warn that new threats are gaining ground the area has emerged as an epicenter of land-grabbing and illegal mining amid a surge in invaders who are betting that protections on the land they are occupying will eventually be loosened or scrapped altogether “We have seen a wave of land-grabbing,” Fonseca said “The pattern has changed – many of these openings are now for speculation only “The main driver is the total lack of environmental policy from this government,” said Romulo Batista “People who are disposed to invading are feeling emboldened.” Under Bolsonaro’s leadership, environmental enforcement has also taken a hit. The far-right president has repeatedly slashed budgets for environmental enforcement agencies like Ibama and ICMBio, while also attempting to stop their agents from destroying equipment found during raids on illegal operations in the Amazon feeling that the government is on their side Invaders have increasingly been razing small lots of land in patterns “typical of land-grabbing,” the advocacy source noted in the hopes that this activity will eventually be legalized “They arrive there and start clearing – it’s completely illegal,” the source said a rejection of these indigenous territories and an expectation that the land they claim will eventually be legalized the miners have resumed operations in both of these territories recently “People see this as an incentive to begin invading again,” the advocacy source said they return knowing that nothing will happen to them.” the federal government also imposed a moratorium on burning across the Amazon and Pantanal for 120 days in a bid to curb illegal fires that have been spreading out of control ranchers often burn degraded pastures to renew them and small producers prepare their plots for planting agricultural crops by setting them ablaze these blazes spread further than intended and add more pressure on forests But these government measures appear to have had little impact on deterring illegal deforestation and criminal burning. In June – when the federal government’s crackdown on forest clearing was in full swing – Brazil registered its highest level of deforestation in 13 years for that month satellites recorded some 1,314 fire alerts across the Amazon between July 15 and July 21 even though the moratorium on burning had already been in place for two weeks Some 46% of these alerts were registered in the state of Pará “Combating deforestation has to be done year-round,” Batista said “Combatting burning doesn’t happen only in the moment when the forest is already on fire.” Meanwhile, the invasion of Indigenous lands carries even more risk now, as the COVID-19 pandemic ravages Brazil. Because of their relative isolation, Indigenous peoples tend to be more vulnerable to even common diseases. With a highly infectious virus like COVID-19, the risks are even greater for these communities which have a history of being decimated by disease brought in from the outside There have already been 22,021 confirmed cases and 625 deaths among Indigenous people due to the novel coronavirus with 148 communities affected across Brazil has the highest number of COVID-19 cases of any Indigenous territory as the pandemic spreads into rural parts of Brazil worries are also mounting that underfunded health networks that are already struggling to cope with COVID-19 may be further strained by patients sickened by ash and smoke the plumes of smoke darkened the skies of Sao Paulo thousands of kilometers away from the Amazon “We already have hospitals overflowing with people,” Batista said Banner image of a White-nosed saki (Chiropotes albinasus) by Valdir Hobus via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SE 2.0) Editor’s note: This story was powered by Places to Watch GFW is supporting data-driven journalism by providing data and maps generated by Places to Watch People are standing up for their planet’s iconic rainforest You’ve likely seen and heard about the devastating fires that have been scorching their way through the Amazon Rainforest this year With so much global attention directed at this complex situation here are a few things to know about the fires and what can be done to prevent them in the future: This is not the first time the Amazon Rainforest has burned to convert rainforest into ranchland and crop farms for decades There have been more total fires than 2019's fires five times since 2004 But deforestation and habitat fragmentation from these other years of fires have led to hotter and drier conditions that make it easier for fire here to spread these fires have reached an unprecedented and reckless scale Fire is used around the world to sustainably manage lands this strategy isn’t right for the Amazon Rainforest is not a landscape where fire plays a natural role The humidity and moisture of the rainforest do not lead lightning strikes to often cause fires here and the plant and animal residents here are not adapted for it These fires pose direct threats to the rainforest’s biodiversity and its Indigenous peoples and also can harm the air quality of people throughout South America To solve the Amazon’s deforestation and combat climate change we must focus on how we use land to grow our food Although the fires were set to clear space to occupy the land a lot of the area is not used productively or is used mainly for land speculation There is already a considerable amount of land in the Amazon to increase production of food without deforestation we need to work toward smarter land use to prevent more of the rainforest and other natural lands from being converted for agricultural development The way we use land to grow food has major implications for our climate The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recently released a report revealing that 21 to 37 percent of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions are associated with land-based food production it’s estimated that 2 percent of our emissions come from planes That leaves a lot of opportunity for the farming sector to improve land-use practices to reduce deforestation and its effect on our climate Pitting farmers vs the forest will not lead to lasting solutions. By understanding the needs of people in the region we can break the cycle of scarcity and find a more sustainable path We’re already doing so in São Félix do Xingu, a remote municipality that used to have one of the highest deforestation rates in Brazil. Here, ranchers were using up the nutrients of their ranchlands every few years and cutting down more forest. TNC demonstrated more effective grazing methods to restore the health of the soil and help ranchers get more out of already-cleared land without burning down more TNC has shown farmers how to make a sustainable profit by growing native cocoa in the shade of bananas This restores the health of the soil while bringing back forest and avoiding further deforestation Supporting Indigenous people is one of the most effective strategies for conserving the Amazon Rainforest Largely intact compared to surrounding Amazon landscapes, indigenous lands act as sanctuaries for threatened species and boast some of the richest ecosystems in the Amazon. TNC works with Indigenous groups to develop best practices for land management that retain their cultural heritage and preserve the natural resources under their control TNC has supported eight indigenous groups in the creation of management plans across more than 12 million acres of the rainforest The world is not silent about the Amazon fires Since the fires were publicized in the news and on social media people from all walks of life have been passionate and vocal in their support of the Amazon What’s been revealed in these past few weeks is that there is global recognition that the Amazon is a symbol for the health of the planet as an amazing haven of biodiversity and as a massive natural carbon sink that can moderate our climate People are standing up for their planet’s iconic rainforest we must improve the food-growing ability of the farms that are already there “What’s going to drive you off this land is hunger,” an official from ICMBio the Chico Mendes Institute of Biodiversity Conservation cautioned fishing families and settlers living along the mid-reaches of the Xingu River in the state of Pará in the Brazilian Amazon six years after the federal government absorbed the traditional riverine communities into the newly created Serra do Pardo National Park — a decision made without consulting the local people those words were perceived as a clear threat: they feared that ICMBio the federal institute that oversees the park would deprive them of everything they needed to sustain their traditional way of life crushed by a fingernail,” says a young man from São Sebastião do Xingu the hamlet where many of the families live And they had good reason to worry: Brazil’s conception of a national park is modelled on the U.S where the overriding priority is to protect ecosystems the authorities press for the relocation of those found living within newly declared Brazilian national parks even when they have settled in traditional communities that have been established for many years the São Sebastião residents felt a profound connection with their land and for much of the second half of the 20th century braved loggers and violent land thieves to keep it they chose the path of resistance and persistence though the handful of families living there still don’t know yet if they’ll be allowed to stay even as they endure the challenges of living within a national park including a perennial lack of basic human services picks up a photo showing a dugout canoe on the Xingu River Her gaze moves from the image of her fisherman son to the shadowy landforms in the background Her eyes and fingers concentrate on the far horizon in the picture “I’m sure of that because of the shape of the river,” she explains like most of the dozens of families now living inside Serra do Pardo National Park and around it are descended from rubber tappers as well as indigenous groups in a region known as Terra do Meio (the land In between) a stretch of forest flanked by the Xingu and Iriri rivers bordering the municipal districts of Altamira and São Félix do Xingu The hamlet was set up in the early 20th Century by a seringalista mainly from the impoverished Brazilian Northeast indigenous people used to wander at will through the region though the arrival of the rubber tappers had a profoundly negative impact on the Indian’s social organization The rubber baron allocated dozens of small forest stretches to the rubber tappers “The men who established the families here came from outside,” explains 41-year-old Lucivaldo Vieira da Silva who relates the family’s genealogy: Dona Albertina’s son His father was born further down the Xingu River the son of a migrant from the district of Castanhal in the very north of Pará quite often made families by forming relationships with indigenous women Indigenous knowledge acquired from the women helped the men diversify their livelihood when the price of rubber fell That is how these traditional communities came to rely on subsistence farming the collection of forest products (including Brazil nuts and pilocarpus (Pilocarpus jaborandi) a leaf used by the pharmaceutical industry) an activity now banned within the national park The rubber trade faded away completely along the Xingu by the late 1980s That’s around the time when outsiders started arriving in search of timber Rival logging groups sought out clusters of valuable trees in the thick forests frequently fighting between themselves over prized groves masses of them,” a local resident remembers “They used gunmen to stop a rival logger stealing their timber,” another resident recalls The loggers created numerous tracks through the forest which land thieves then utilized to take over vast tracts to set up cattle ranches One Xingu resident remembers: “Everyone claimed to be the owner.” Over the same period peasant families from other Brazilian states began migrating into the regionTwo of these families settled on the outskirts of São Sebastiãp where they still live sharing the problems of the other families “This was a time when might was right,” recalls a São Sebastião resident Many families were forced off their land at gunpoint Seu José Lopes da Silva was among those illegally evicted He describes his feeling of powerlessness: “Those with arms had their way the residents were stunned to learn that a group of elite landowners had bought the land on which São Sebastião stood and that the entire community would be forced to vacate and then they knock everything down with a tractor?” In the face of repeated protests by the residents these so-called landowners agreed to resettle the hamlet higher up the Xingu River That, of course, wasn’t the end of upheaval and uncertainty: the creation of the Serra do Pardo National Park was announced in February 2005. That decision came in response to the furore over the assassination of the U.S. missionary, Dorothy Stang as the Brazilian government rapidly set up a mosaic of protected areas in the Terra do Meio to combat land theft and other predatory activities all the territory along the left bank of this stretch of the Xingu River was to have been turned into a Resex (an extractivist reserve) a type of conservation unit where traditional inhabitants are allowed to stay on and practice sustainable livelihoods according to the residents of São Sebastião they were informed that their community was to be absorbed by the Serra do Pardo National Park a much stricter type of conservation unit where families couldn’t stay The Park was to cover 445,408 hectares (1.1 million acres) “We were all amazed,” recalls Domingos Pereira da Silva Valdenir Bezerra de Morias also remembers: “They said: ‘Do you agree to becoming a Resex You can go on doing everything you do now.’ Everyone said they arrived and said: ‘Do you know that now you’re in a National Park?’ We said: ‘No.’ We signed the proposal to become a reserve We didn’t sign to become a [national] park’.” Unbeknown to the families a new federal study had been carried out and the boundaries of the Resex had changed the families admit that this flurry of government initiatives did bring some benefits and an independent branch of government) identified and mapped the area occupied by land thieves ICMBio began fining those responsible for large-scale deforestation One successful initiative was the Pirate Cattle Operation which shut down illegal ranching activities “I thank the government for turning its attention to us here,” says João Inácio Assunção an elderly resident forced to leave during the period of violence before the park’s founding The Ministry of the Environment estimates that by the time federal action was taken 10 percent of the area of the Serra do Pardo National Park had been illegally deforested and converted to pasture By the conclusion of the five-month Pirate Cattle Operation 30,000 head of cattle were removed from the park and a neighboring conservation unit while the authorities acted effectively in punishing and eradicating land theft they failed to guarantee the rights of the traditional river communities Brazil is a signatory of the International Labour Organization’s Convention 169 which requires that governments consult the peoples concerned “whenever consideration is being given to legislative or administrative measures which may affect them directly.” But this did not happen in the case of the Xingu River settlements when incorporated into the national park Other coercive acts that appear to have violated national and international laws include ICMBio rulings that the families were not allowed to carry out small-scale subsistence agriculture or even receive visits from friends and families “Nobody could visit us,” says Maria Neusa Teixeira da Silva Of all the actions taken against the settlements this was the one the people found most cruel “I said: ‘I can put up with anything but this resulted in a decade-long failure by the state to provide basic public services in health education and transportation to the region “If only we had schools,” laments Magno dos Santos Gomes his family left its home along the Xingu River and moved to the town of São Félix do Xingu so that the children could have access to a school Complaints to municipal authorities over the lack of services apparently fell on deaf ears the community of São Sebastião made a formal complaint to the MPF about the municipality’s neglect It was only then that the local government recognized that it had obligations to the community told Mongabay that the situation for São Sebastião residents was “very serious.… People are leaving the region because of the lack of assistance.… We must take urgent action so that they can return home.” when pressed to say when mobile health visits would occur in São Sebastião or when the hamlet’s energy generator would be repaired the mayor was evasive: “it’s hard for us to take even these minimum actions,” she responded “The municipal district has 124,000 inhabitants with some people living up to 300 kilometers (186 miles) away from the main town.” The families of São Sebastião agree that change is coming ICMBio has been in talks with the inhabitants negotiating a deal by which the settlers will be allowed to go on practicing a traditional way of life and livelihoods inside the national park with the document apparently stuck in the institute’s upper echelons “It’s now 13 years since we’ve had a park here and nothing has been sorted out,” complained one resident We’re scared to plant crops and then lose everything The ICMBio press office admitted to Mongabay that the process is taking time but said this is because it is trying “to negotiate with the families in a truly participatory way guaranteeing their effective involvement.” When asked about its earlier infringement on the community’s legal rights ICMBio responded that it is going through a process of “institutional learning.” some within ICMBio are still talking of resettling the families rejects this solution: “The protection of the environment and the creation of a specially protected territorial park doesn’t mean that the traditional community can’t remain on its land and be supplied with the public services it needs,” she says adding that MPF’s role is to achieve a negotiated settlement “It is only if this proves impossible that the MPF will go to court.” the hamlet church in São Sebastião took on a festive appearance as the building was garlanded with bunting and colored lights Residents were preparing for the annual celebration in honor of the town’s patron saint an event observed here in much the same way for more than a century as the community welcomed friends and family from near and far ICMBio threatened to ban the annual festival arousing disgust and defiance from local residents perhaps as part of its “institutional learning,” ICMBio’s prohibition was never imposed – though it wouldn’t have likely been respected if it had been involving a large extended community network renews the people’s faith in the powers of their founding saint The celebration has also become a powerful expression of the inhabitants’ determination to stay on the land they have called home for generations FEEDBACK: Use this form to send a message to the author of this post Brazil — The rolling hills of the Triunfo do Xingu protected area in northern Brazil are a patchwork of vibrant emerald green and deep burnt orange Dark plumes of smoke dot the jungle landscape stretching beyond the sprawling pastures Alongside the dirt roads crisscrossing the region tree stumps jut out from the charred ground amid dried-up vegetation The Área de Proteção Ambiental (APA) Triunfo do Xingu is a vast region spanning some ​​1.7 million hectares (4.2 million acres) across the municipalities of São Félix do Xingu and Altamira in the heart of Brazil’s northern state of Pará housing various types of forest and a rich tapestry of plant and animal species It is also home to indigenous groups and traditional peoples who rely on the forest to survive while preserving their way of life The Triunfo do Xingu area has been under state protection for more than a decade although some land development is legally permitted Pará granted the area a conservation status aimed at preserving its biodiversity and ensuring sustainable use of its natural resources some clearing is allowed on a small part of the territory while the remainder is supposed to be earmarked for environmental preservation Yet satellite data from the University of Maryland (UMD) show that Triunfo do Xingu lost around 22 percent of its forest cover between 2007 and 2018 Preliminary figures for 2019 indicate the deforestation rate may be rising even higher UMD picked up more than half a million deforestation alerts in the protected area — more than half of those in August alone Most of those who have been clearing land in recent months are doing so without the licensing needed to legally develop the territory for industrial activity They also appear to be carving out chunks of forest that are far larger than what is permitted within the Triunfo do Xingu area under its protected status “Eighty percent of the area has to be preserved,” said one public official in the region who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the matter It’s the reverse — the majority is being deforested and developed The surge in illegal deforestation in Triunfo do Xingu is part of a larger deeply worrying trend of encroachment into protected areas seen across the Brazilian Amazon Abad works as an analyst at the Instituto Socioambiental (ISA) an NGO that defends environmental diversity and the rights of indigenous and traditional people “Not only is there a rise in deforestation but most of it is happening inside protected areas which have traditionally served as a shield stopping this deforestation,” said Abad we have seen a very big concentration of the kind of leakage from outside of the protected areas to inside of the protected areas.” most of the recent deforestation has been driven by cattle ranching as farmers convert more land for their livestock a municipality of about 125,000 in which about two-thirds of the protected area lies is the largest cattle-producing municipality in Brazil and is home to nearly 20 times more livestock than people The rhetoric of President Jair Bolsonaro seems to have played a role in the deforestation surge in this region where support for the controversial leader is strong and the yellow football shirt that has become a symbol of far-right politics is a common sight Bolsonaro has repeatedly vowed to loosen restrictions on development in the Amazon a message that has deeply resonated with farmers and ranchers here fines for environmental crimes have dropped sharply since he took office at the start of this year which critics say has helped create a climate of impunity both large and small agricultural producers have been emboldened to deforest more land across the region Pará state made headlines when it emerged that growers and ranchers were hatching a plan over Whatsapp to set coordinated fires in support of Bolsonaro Authorities caught wind of the plot but were too slow to act and data show that the number of fires tripled on that date compared to a year earlier “The political rhetoric is encouraging crimes against our Amazon,” Ananza Mara Rabello a professor at the Universidade Federal do Sul e Sudeste do Pará told an audience gathered in São Félix do Xingu’s legislative building in early September “Because the fire in the Amazon is not natural.” has made it easier to deforest without fear of facing penalties The protected area lies across the river from the town of São Félix do Xingu only accessible by the boats that periodically carry over anything from trucks and motorcycles to cattle and consumer goods a massive billboard advertising an upcoming cattle fair loomed over the makeshift port during a recent visit From this informal entrance to the protected Triunfo do Xingu area a web of haphazard dirt roads stretched through the vast territory Our four-wheel-drive truck snaked through rough narrow paths dented by gaping holes for hours to reach freshly cleared patches of forest We passed large swaths of forest burned within the last few weeks and encountered a blaze that was actively engulfing virgin forest The landscape was dotted with the occasional farm or ranch The region is struggling with lax enforcement of environmental regulations a pastor with the Comissão Pastoral da Terra (CPT) in São Félix do Xingu an arm of the Catholic Church that works to advance human rights in rural communities across Brazil the CPT works with small farmers to find alternatives to clearing land and runs projects that aim to regenerate degraded forests “They act with impunity because they feel protected,” Lago told Mongabay in an interview that people know nobody will come to fine them state and federal authorities have tried to crack down on illegal deforestation in Triunfo do Xingu in recent weeks amid global panic over a surge in burning across the broader Brazilian Amazon which is on course to experience its worst fire season since 2010 There have been operations by Brazil’s environmental agency and the municipal and state environmental secretariats Yet sources say that the operations have been a symbolic Band-aid effort with limited scope to curb deforestation in the Triunfo do Xingu region in the longer term With no headquarters in São Félix do Xingu and few agents in the sprawling broader area IBAMA doesn’t have the capacity to uniformly enforce the law across the region And while the greater presence of authorities in recent weeks has helped temporarily slow the clearing most expect it to resume with full force as attention shifts elsewhere it remains difficult to enforce environmental laws and hand out fines due to a pervasive lack of land titling in the region large agribusinesses rent land from smallholders making it even more complex to establish accountability for forest clearing “When you don’t have the land documentation you don’t have responsibility for the crime,” the official said The rampant encroachment into protected areas has had a profound impact on the people who rely on this area for their livelihood land-grabbing and mining activities in the northern part of the Triunfo do Xingu have already begun invading the Apyterewa indigenous land which is home to the Parakanã people who rely on the forest for hunting and horticulture Echoing the bloody colonization that marked the settlement of this region more than a century ago its deforestation has also sparked violent clashes in the Trincheira/Bacaja indigenous region between the Xikrin people that call it home and invaders looking to illegally take over the protected land As more of the forest disappears in the Triunfo do Xingu region pressure is also mounting on indigenous areas deeper in the Amazon that have largely been shielded from deforestation so far With the widespread clearing slicing up the larger protected area into smaller fragments of forest human rights advocates worry that it will become increasingly difficult for forest-dependent communities to survive within it “When we see destruction of the forest … what you’re seeing is the destruction of the ability of these people to continue their way of life,” said Christian Poirier a nonprofit that works to protect the rainforest and the rights of indigenous peoples in the Amazon Basin “They need to have enough forest in which they can practice traditional hunting and gathering and continue their nomadic lifestyle.” Small-scale traditional farmers in the area also say they are feeling the impact of deforestation growers from the smallholder cooperative in the Xingu region saw their production of cocoa drop 45 percent plummeted to nearly zero in the prior season and remains about 95 percent lower than normal “The rain cycle is changing and that’s a huge concern for us — it has a big impact on the cooperative and the community,” said Raimundo Freire dos Santos president of the Cooperativa Alternativa Mista dos Pequenos Produtores do Alto Xingu (Camppax) which uses agroforestry to sustainably grow jaborandi as well as cocoa and Brazil nuts alongside and within forests Its membership ranges between 220 and 325 families including indigenous and traditional people Another worry for dos Santos is that rampant deforestation will tarnish the region’s reputation making it more difficult for small-scale farmers to sell their products people won’t want to buy cocoa or nuts from this region because of the deforestation,” dos Santos told Mongabay in the cooperative’s warehouse in São Félix do Xingu where sacks of cocoa beans and dried jaborandi were stacked in neat towers There are also signs emerging that a few of those who are clearing land in the region are degrading the forest by using agro-toxins, some of which have been linked to serious health issues including cancer There have been cases where these chemicals – normally used to aid the harvest of soybeans – were thrown on top of virgin forest in order to dry it out and make it easier to burn Deforestation is likely to have a far-reaching impact on the biodiversity of the region too which lies in the broader Xingu ecological corridor — a diverse and important area of conservation in the Amazon The Triunfo do Xingu area is home to countless species of plants and animals many of which are are not well-suited to living in areas with higher temperatures and less vegetation These include the oncilla (Leopardus tigrinus) a wild cat that resembles a miniature jaguar as well as the Brazilian tapir (Tapirus terrestris) – both species that are listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Yet much of the region’s diversity remains unexplored which means the effects of forest fires and deforestation are not yet fully understood “The biodiversity is so vast and so localized,” he said “It’s impossible to know how many species have been wiped out by these fires But there’s a very good chance that we have been witnessing extinction in these flames.” Banner image: A fire burns through rainforest in APA Triunfo do Xingu Humid tropical forest disturbance alerts using Landsat data Accessed through Global Forest Watch on [date] Cattle on a farm inside an environmentally protected area in Sao Felix do Xingu but concerns are mounting that the agri-food industry won’t be ready in time — something that’s set to reshape trade flows The European Union Deforestation Regulation will ban imports of commodities and their related products grown on land that was deforested after 2020 Companies must trace back their supply chains and prove that After decades of turning forests into pastures and fields Brazilian landowners have begun reversing the trend Lazir Soares de Castro stands amid white and gray Nelore cattle on his ranch in São Félix do Xingu a remote and sprawling county on Brazil’s northeastern Amazon frontier high grass and scrub brush fade into sporadic trees in the distance Soares describes how different this area looked when he arrived in 1984 nothing.” The military dictatorship then running the country was encouraging settlers to occupy the Amazon in the name of national security “There was no organized environmental policy,” Soares says Deforestation spread rapidly across Brazil’s portion of the Amazon an area more than two-thirds the size of the conterminous United States By the time The Nature Conservancy started working in São Félix in 2009 director of conservation for the organization’s Brazil program the situation was so bad that the county had been added to a new environmental blacklist generated by the federal government saw almost 300 square miles of its forests felled in 2008 the highest rate of municipal deforestation in the entire Amazon “São Félix do Xingu was the symbol of a frontier out of control,” Thompson says thanks to efforts by the Brazilian government New tools are encouraging ranchers and farmers—who often don’t even have title to the land they homesteaded—to improve and restore the health of their holdings A new land registry project shows where the most work needs to be done And efforts are under way to develop a productive local economy that will keep forests intact while allowing residents to make a living “If São Félix can make this real for all of its communities it will surely provide lessons for all of the Amazon,” Thompson says success will hinge on ranchers like Soares the Amazon Basin has been the country’s equivalent of the old American West: vast largely lawless and sparsely populated by indigenous groups A century and a half after land grabs and Manifest Destiny pushed Americans toward the Pacific Ocean Government policies in the 1960s and 1970s encouraged settlers into the region offering free land and economic assistance to impoverished families from crowded coastal regions in this “land without men for men without land.” Airports appeared and roads sliced through the forest to tie the far-flung states to population centers in the east and south currently stretches approximately 3,000 miles from east to west Soares was part of a wave of migration in the 1980s An explosion in the soybean market spurred a second large migration in the 1990s and 2000s when large agricultural firms snapped up farms and cattle ranches in other Brazilian states to plant soybeans which can be harvested twice a year in the tropics This pushed more settlers even farther into the forest The highly disorganized process birthed corruption and violence and left many settlers with land titles that were unclear or nonexistent It also served as a recipe for deforestation Just as settlers in the American West had to “improve” their holdings to receive government support—clearing the land and planting crops or grazing cattle—immigrants to the Amazon were essentially required to raze the forest as they went literally chopping his way through the trees “We would cut down and set fire to the forest to create space to plant crops to feed the cattle,” he says “Everyone would get together and torch the forest.” The settlers didn’t know any better and were given little or no guidance by the government about how to use the land efficiently This started a vicious cycle rooted in the ecology of the rainforest Nutrients do not run very deep in the area’s clay-rich soils so after a few years of grazing or planting Farmers and ranchers were forced to clear more and more land for new fields and pastures for three-quarters of the deforestation in the Amazon Basin primarily through ranching and large-scale agriculture about 10,700 square miles of the country’s Amazon forest were cut down The problem was especially acute in the state of Pará in large part because it is home to the largest cattle herd in the country About 80 percent of the Amazon forest still stands today but in the 1990s and 2000s the rate at which it was falling caught the world’s attention As national and international pressure followed a growing public awareness of deforestation and its effects on global climate change Brazilian government policy began to shift away from promoting settlement and toward encouraging sustainable development The creation of the blacklist in 2008 was a clear sign Inclusion on the list resulted in stricter federal oversight and economic sanctions against counties to discourage deforestation as consumers demanded that products from the rainforest be sustainable the Conservancy was invited to São Félix by a meat-packing company that was having problems finding suppliers in compliance with the country’s forest code the code required (among other things) that Amazon landowners set aside 50 to 80 percent of their land as protected rainforest or regrowth Until 2009 the requirement had been widely ignored critical lands manager for the Conservancy in Brazil Tensions were high when the Conservancy first showed up in São Félix Producers like Soares and Reis Neto were furious at the federal and state governments for creating the situation—and for making them bear the brunt of the blame “They don’t like to be seen as criminals,” Sztutman says “They much prefer to comply with regulations if it allows them to maintain their livelihood.” Heads cooled once Conservancy staffers explained that they were there to help the Conservancy helped São Félix and other counties set up a computerized rural land registry known by its Portuguese acronym Landowners were required to help map and register their properties and assume responsibility for taking care of the land Registration was essential for compliance with the forest code because it solved a critical problem Even though Brazil has some of the best satellite land data covering the Amazon if the government didn’t know who owned what it was nearly impossible to assign responsibility but nobody knew whose property it was on,” he says you can tell who is in compliance or not.” The situation has been complicated because of the unclear state of land tenure in the region Less than 4 percent of private land in Brazil’s Amazon has clear ownership records today That’s why the Conservancy pushed to decouple the registration process from establishing ownership though registration is also a step in that direction Although registering property doesn’t confer legal tenure “at least people are in-system and know they can be tracked,” he says The process got a boost when changes were made to the forest code in 2012 Some changes made conservation more difficult and complicated but the revision also made land registration required by federal law with all rural properties to be registered by May 2016 This created an incentive for landowners to comply with the code Reducing deforestation was just one side of the equation The other was helping landowners make their already cleared land more productive By intensifying production through better husbandry practices such as rotational grazing one of more than 20 producers in a local sustainable beef association saw his cattle density nearly triple in just two years Reis Neto divided his land into smaller pastures some of which he rents to other ranchers for grazing he says he can earn twice as much in the same area nobody gives anything to anyone.’ Then they started to see the results and now they ask me to introduce them to the conservation folks.” IBM also collaborated with the Conservancy to develop and improve a software tool to track deforestation mating the counties’ massive land database with software that compares farm plots with historical satellite images This way authorities can track compliance with the forest code over time as well as formulate effective land-management plans as much as 80 percent of the land must be left intact operators who have cleared beyond their limit must register which areas will be left to regrow Some farmers are helping the process along by replanting native species such as cacao which can provide a reliable source of income The Conservancy is helping small farms in São Félix increase food production without causing habitat loss these agroforests of native species count as replanted forests for compliance with the law the Conservancy has worked to implement CAR in 12 counties in Pará and neighboring Mato Grosso a state with comparable levels of deforestation 166,455 properties in Pará were registered About 7,500 São Félix properties were among that number is to scale up the registration process to hundreds of counties and eventually more than 5,000 across the country Another challenge is linking the three levels of CAR—county state and federal—and making them compatible with one another deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon has been slowly but steadily decreasing since 2004 less than 60 square miles of forest was cleared in São Félix This wasn’t enough to get it off the blacklist but in 2010 the Conservancy helped the nearby county of Paragominas become the first to drop off the list after it reduced deforestation and achieved 80 percent land registration “People are starting to believe that rural registration is really working,” says Benito Guerrero a Conservancy land use specialist in Brazil “Paragominas is a model demonstrating that it’s possible for economic development and environmental protection to work hand in hand.” To ensure that rainforest products are produced sustainably the Conservancy has been working with private companies to set up deforestation commitments in their supply chains Companies such as Cargill have already pledged to set up tracking and to stop using any soy whose production causes deforestation in the tropics “Our approach is understanding business as part of the solution,” Thompson says meat buyers can track ownership of the cattle back to their origins to verify that sellers are operating within the deforestation laws This gives compliant ranchers a legitimate place in the regional market and employing better ranching practices can add value to their beef Walmart in Brazil is working to source meat from the Marfrig Group which buys beef only from deforestation-free ranches in São Félix providing an incentive for ranchers to comply with the forest code This is an example of rewarding people for conservation instead of punishing them for causing deforestation—more stick than carrot Whatever happens in the Amazon Basin will affect far more than just Brazil The country is the seventh largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world with just over 30 percent caused by deforestation in 2014 Now that Brazil has pledged to slow deforestation by 80 percent and reduce emissions by at least 36 percent by 2020 demonstrating change in places like São Félix and Paragominas is especially important: “If we are able to solve the situation there,” says Sztutman “it would prove that deforestation is solvable anywhere.” Ranchers like Soares see themselves on the front lines of the effort Gazing across his ranch—named Santa Victoria because finally gaining the land title was practically “a holy victory”—he sums up the situation with an allegory: “Once the animals all rushed into the stream and cried ‘What will we do now?’ A hummingbird came and took a beak full of water and sprayed it into the fire You won’t put out the fire like that!’ She said “So I’m doing the work of hummingbirds,” he says Julian Smith is a freelance writer who frequently reports on science and conservation He is the author of the books Crossing the Heart of Africa and Smokejumper SÃO FÉLIX DO XINGU – As João Inácio de Assunção’s small boat sliced through the clay-colored waters of Rio Fresco in northern Brazil he recalled a different time when the river was clearer and brimming with fish “There used to be so many types of fish here,” said 51-year-old de Assunção as he steered the engine-powered boat De Assunção has spent 30 years working on the river a municipality in the northern state of Pará better known for its frenzied cattle production it has become increasingly difficult for fishermen like him to survive from the river Environmentalists point to a surge in illegal gold mining in this corner of the Brazilian Amazon which has brought along with it a dramatic rise in water pollution and deforestation as speculators clear swaths of forest along the riverbanks to make way for makeshift mines known as garimpos This activity has done “irreversible damage” to the rivers in the region who works with the Comissão Pastoral da Terra (CPT) in São Félix do Xingu an arm of the Catholic Church that strives to advance human rights in rural communities in Brazil “There’s always been mining speculation here – but in recent years “And the water they are polluting is in small rivers and streams that flow directly into Rio Fresco.” Local sources say the most dramatic pollution has occurred in Rio Branco a narrow river that snakes through the adjacent region of Ourilândia do Norte – or Northern Land of Gold – before flowing into the larger Rio Fresco most of which was still covered in lush forest a few years ago has recently seen a sharp rise in clearing: it lost more than 5 percent of its forest cover between 2001 and 2018 About half of this loss occurred in 2017 and 2018 alone indicating deforestation in the region may be accelerating And there are also signs that this acceleration has kept up this year: preliminary data from UMD indicate deforestation spiked in September and October to more than double the average rate for the same period over the past four years Satellite images show the bulk of 2019 deforestation is due to mining expansion Local sources say some illegal miners – known as garimpeiros – dump toxic waste directly into the river But most of the pollution occurs because the removal of forest and topsoil has badly weakened the banks of Rio Branco adjunct professor at the Federal University of Southern and Southeastern Pará (Unifesspa) in São Félix do Xingu This means the soil – and the toxins miners use to extract minerals – runs directly into the river when it rains “What happens is that you remove this protection,” Rêgo da Silva said “And we have a big problem with the use of mercury in mining That soil that is entering the water is rich in mercury and other minerals too.” Scientific studies have also found mercury to be detrimental to human health, linking exposure to the element to skin disease, infertility and birth defects. It can also impact river-dwelling communities far beyond the immediate area around a mining site as contamination travels downstream and the impact becomes amplified up the food chain the contaminated water flows from one river into the next In the open water where Rio Fresco meets Rio Xingu the blue stream of one flows alongside the muddy currents of the other “How can you use the water?” de Assunção wondered The decline of Rio Fresco didn’t begin this year with the spike in mining activity in this part of the Brazilian Amazon it goes back to the mining rush that gripped the broader Amazon region beginning in the 1970s the path into the mineral-rich lands around Ourilândia do Norte and Tucumã was opened up by miners searching for gold hoping to strike it rich in the illicit gold trade While mining accounts for  a far smaller proportion of deforestation than cattle ranching or logging, its environmental impact has become clearer – and more worrying – in recent years. A 2017 study found that mining contributed to about 10 percent of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon between 2005 and 2015 The vast majority of mining-related clearing – about 90 percent – occurred illegally outside mining leases granted by the Brazilian government that can raze large swaths of forest with ease allowing mining supplies and equipment to be flown into densely forested areas by plane they move on to another patch of mineral-rich forest Some of the mining in the region is legal but even those operations have run into controversy prosecutors suspended a nickel mine owned by mining giant Vale following contamination of a nearby river in the Xikrin indigenous territory which straddles the municipalities of Tucumã and Ourilandia do Norte Meanwhile, the area where illegal miners have recently ramped up their activity overlaps with the Kayapó indigenous territory a vast region spanning some 3.28 million hectares that is home to several indigenous groups including some that live in voluntary isolation from the outside world it is illegal to mine on indigenous lands – but local sources claim this isn’t stopping illegal garimpeiros from encroaching on the Kayapó territory Some indigenous people who live on this land have been battling to expel the invaders in recent years Others have reluctantly tolerated the illegal mining in exchange for a cut of the profits which they say brings badly-needed funds to their communities Deforestation has more than doubled in the Kayapó protected area since 2000 with nonprofit groups pointing to gold mining as the key driver the government agency tasked with protecting the interests of indigenous people in Brazil has identified almost 3,000 people contaminated by mining residue in the territory the long-term impacts of mining pollution have also started to become evident recently found only 21 invertebrate species still living in Rio Fresco there were roughly 45 species in Rio Xingu Aquatic invertebrates – often the larvae of flying insects – are routinely used by researchers as indicators of waterbody health “This isn’t just an environmental problem – it’s also a social problem,” said Cristian Bento da Silva an anthropologist with the Instituto de Estudos do Xingu who is studying the impact of water pollution on the São Félix do Xingu community it was still possible to fish in Rio Fresco this river is known as the ‘Dead River’ here.” As Rio Fresco became more polluted and the number of fish dwindled over the last two decades de Assunção says many fishermen who relied on its waters have moved further along Rio Xingu in search of more plentiful catch Because it became impossible to work as the mining picked up,” he said noting that there’s also been instances of illness in the community Advocates and local residents say that the recent uptick in illegal mining and deforestation along Rio Branco and Rio Fresco have spurred fresh concerns about the future of the rivers in this region A key worry is that the pollution is beginning to seep into Rio Xingu “That’s our big worry here,” Rêgo da Silva said “We could have a very considerable disequilibrium because Rio Xingu is one of the main rivers here in our region.” Many point to the rhetoric of Brazil’s new president Jair Bolsonaro as a key factor that has emboldened illegal miners The controversial far-right leader – who has his own past as a garimpeiro – has repeatedly railed against land protections as an “obstacle” to mining and development Bolsonaro’s government is now pushing forward a controversial bill that would permit mining in indigenous territories and the president has also said he supports opening up the 4.6-million hectare Renca reserve to miners His predecessor Michel Temer tried to scrap protections on the massive region which lies across the states of Pará and Amapá but the move was blocked by a federal judge amid an international outcry Environmental enforcement has also been weakened under Bolsonaro’s watch of some of its powers and handed over final say on sanctions to a newly established court Fines for environmental crimes have plummeted since the president assumed office in January to their lowest in a decade All of this has resonated with clandestine miners many of whom are poor and with little education Local advocates say the president’s words and actions have emboldened many to venture into the Amazon without fear of repercussions “This discourse that Amazonia is a place with unlimited natural resources to explore – this discourse is really strong here,” said Bento da Silva “And so people come to explore the resources of the region without taking any responsibility.” with dwindling resources and a vast area to monitor it has proven difficult to contain the illicit activity Cuts to funding at Funai and Ibama have led to the closure of permanent posts in more remote parts of Brazil in recent years leaving miners free to encroach on indigenous territories and protected areas illegal miners blocked four highways in Pará in protest over enforcement agents damaging mining equipment in the region on a key road linking Ourilandia do Norte to São Félix do Xingu “They want the government to stop us from being able to destroy equipment – because that’s what really hurts the garimpeiro,” said one source at a government enforcement agency who asked to remain anonymous because he was not authorized to speak on the matter Earlier this year, Bolsonaro sent miners and loggers an encouraging signal when he personally intervened to stop agents from Ibama from destroying equipment confiscated during a raid on a protected area in the state of Rondônia “It is not the orientation of this government to burn machinery,” he said in a social media video The enforcement agency source noted that it has become increasingly difficult to crack down on illegal mining activity in the region as garimpeiros have become bolder They are hoping both that the government won’t punish them and that their activity will be legalized.” it is still unclear how his community will cope with the impact of illegal mining along rivers especially as garimpeiros show no sign of stepping back from the region Banner image by Ibama via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0) Feedback: Use this form to send a message to the editor of this post. If you want to post a public comment, you can do that at the bottom of the page. Connecting decision makers to a dynamic network of information, people and ideas, Bloomberg quickly and accurately delivers business and financial information, news and insight around the world an independent research group focused on environmental and labor issues Reporter Brasil reviewed several cases in which beef from illegally cleared ranches was shuffled between farms to hide its true origin then shipped to slaughterhouses owned by companies that supply McDonald’s Unions in Europe are piggybacking on the report to demand that McDonald’s start annually disclosing detailed risks of human rights and environmental abuses in its supply chain citing a French vigilance law that environmental groups hope will be a model to other countries A worker walks past cattle carcasses at a slaughterhouse in Sao Felix do Xingu, Brazil 2024 at 11:05 AM EDTBookmarkSaveLock This article is for subscribers only.China’s beef imports are dwindling amid slowing consumption and ample domestic supply dealing a blow to its biggest supplier Brazil Official data show the value of China beef imports fell last year for the first time since at least 2016 with prices plunging to the lowest level in almost three years Import volumes are seen dropping 4% this year according to the US Department of Agriculture An environmentally protected area of the Amazon region near Sao Felix do Xingu 2024 at 4:52 PM ESTBookmarkSaveLock This article is for subscribers only.Brazil’s flagship Amazon rainforest protection program brought in one of the largest single-year funding hauls in its history in 2023 boosting President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s push to halt illegal deforestation by the end of the decade an international conservation initiative launched in 2008 with the support of Germany and Norway received 726 million reais ($148 million) in donations from other nations last year government officials announced at an event in Brasilia on Thursday That marks its best annual total since the year it began operating who oversees the fund for the country’s national development bank 19 de March de 2021 | News Mar 19, 2021 | News Brazil’s ten highest-ranking greenhouse gas (GHG) municipalities emit 172 million gross tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) This is more than entire countries such as Peru And seven of these major emitters are in the Amazon where deforestation is the main source of emissions This has been revealed by the first edition of the SEEG Municípios project an unprecedented initiative of the Climate Observatory a Brazilian coalition from the civil society The SEEG project calculated greenhouse gas emissions of all 5,570 Brazilian municipalities The survey includes each year from 2000 to 2018 and covers in detail more than a hundred sources of emissions in the energy The complete data are available at http://seeg.eco.br This is the first time that emissions are being looked at on the municipal level and the first time that such a survey has been carried out for a large country The goal is to increase awareness among mayors city councils and local communities all over the country about the dynamics of emissions and to provide a tool for the formulation of municipal development policies with the aim of reducing carbon emissions The municipality with the highest emissions in Brazil is São Félix do Xingu with 29.7 million gross tons of CO2e in 2018 followed by agriculture and cattle ranching has the largest number of cattle in the country São Félix do Xingu would rank 111th in the world in emissions the World Resources Institute’s global emissions ranking Deforestation also causes the per capita emissions of the Amazon municipalities to skyrocket almost 22 times more than the average gross emissions per capita in Brazil the country with the highest per capita emissions in the world is even worse off: the sixth largest emitter in the country with 14.3 million tons of CO2e emitted in 2018 Colniza has the highest gross per capita emissions in Brazil This level of emission is equivalent to each inhabitant of the municipality owning more than 300 cars and driving 20 kilometers per day such as the finding that extensive Amazonian municipalities with many protected areas also have large greenhouse gas removals The champion of emissions removal is Altamira the largest municipality in Brazil by area which has removals of more than 22 million tons of CO2e São Félix do Xingu has removals of 10 million tons Of the top ten municipalities in the country by gross emissions only three lie outside the Amazon: São Paulo stands out as the main factor of emission in large cities Oil refining and processing increase emissions in cities like Manaus and Rio de Janeiro And fossil fuel-powered power plants greatly increase emissions in the cities where they are located The most glaring example is Capivari de Baixo Home to a group of coal-fired thermoelectric stations – the Jorge Lacerda complex built in the 1960s – the city has three power plants with an installed capacity of 857 megawatts Capivari de Baixo is the largest emitter in Brazil by area: 85,633 tons of CO2 per km2 although accounting for only 4% of Brazil’s gross emissions is an important source of emissions for cities – especially the more populous ones due to greater efficiency in waste treatment and methane capture technology used to generate energy in landfills less than 5% of Brazilian municipalities had some sort of inventory of greenhouse gas emissions Now all of them will have the data for a 20-year series and we hope that this will serve as a stimulus to promote local development with emission reductions and climate change response” “As the data are made available in an open and free way they also mean huge savings in public resources which can be focused on actions to reduce emissions,” he adds Below are other highlights from the SEEG Municipalities project Land use change (LUC) and forestry sectors Regarding the Climate Observatory: a network formed in 2002 composed of 63 non-governmental organizations and social movements public policies and decision-making processes on climate change About the SEEG Initiative: The System of Greenhouse Gas Emissions Estimates was created in 2012 to fulfill a determination of the PNMC (National Policy on Climate Change) The decree regulating the PNMC established that the country should produce annual emission estimates in order to monitor the implementation of this policy a fundamental instrument to understand in detail the country’s emissions profile SEEG (http://seeg.eco.br) was the first national initiative to produce annual estimates for the entire economy Launched in 2012 and incorporated into the Climate Observatory the following year it is one of the largest national databases on greenhouse gas emissions in the world comprising Brazilian emissions from five sectors (agriculture The estimates are generated according to the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) guidelines based on the Brazilian Inventories of Anthropogenic Emissions and Removals of Greenhouse Gases Researchers from the following NGOs participated in the SEEG Municipalities project: Ipam and Imazon (Land Use Change) Iema (Energy and Industrial Processes) and ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability (Waste) SEEG Municipalities is supported by the European Union through the Partnership Instrument of the EU and the German Federal Ministry for the Environment (SPIPA/EU-BMU) the Climate and Land Use Alliance and through the Climate and Society Institute This project is aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Find out more at un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals The researcher was a pioneer in revitalizing Patxohã considered extinct in the 19th century and recovered by researchers and leaders since 1998 highlights the importance of environmental licensing and explains the opportunities for its improvement in the Legal Amazon Ecosystem services provided by areas of native vegetation are essential for agricultural productivity IPAM – Instituto de Pesquisa Ambiental da Amazônia © ® Feito com amor pela Chama7 Made with love by Chama7 The page you are looking for cannot be found You may have followed a broken or outdated link Looks like something went completely wrong just go back or browse our latest articles below