Deforestation in the Amazon decreased by 50% last year compared to 2022, according to the Deter system of the National Institute for Space Research (INPE). In contrast, deforestation in the Cerrado, the second largest Brazilian biome, increased by 43% during the same period. In absolute terms, 5,151 km² and 7,828 km² of land were deforested in each ecosystem, respectively.
This is the first time that the Deter system, in operation since 2018, has recorded deforested areas in the Cerrado, which occupies about 22% of the national territory, larger than the deforestation in the Amazon, which accounts for more than 50% of the entire Brazilian territory. The numbers also represent the highest level of deforestation in the Cerrado ever recorded by Deter, and the lowest in the Amazon in the entire historical series for this system, which began in 2018.
The states of Pará, Mato Grosso, Maranhão, Tocantins, and Bahia have the largest devastated areas, with São Desidério (BA) being the municipality with the highest degradation of the Cerrado in the year (357 km²). Altamira (PA) has the highest deforestation in the Amazon this year (1,284 km²).
The total loss of vegetation in the two biomes was 12,979 km² in 2023, which is 18% lower than in 2022. To put it in perspective, it is as if Brazil had stopped losing ten cities the size of São Paulo in vegetation in one year and started losing eight.
However, the data from INPE does not specify how much of this deforestation is legal and how much is illegal. In the forest, the vast majority of the destruction is illegal and concentrated in federal areas, such as indigenous reserves and conservation units.
In the Cerrado, there is significant loss in privately owned land with the approval of local authorities. The Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change estimates that about half of the deforestation in this biome is authorized by the states.
The Forest Code protects 80% of the area with native vegetation cover on private properties in the Amazon. In the Cerrado, the law determines the preservation of only 20%. And in the Cerrado within the Legal Amazon territory, this percentage is 35%.
The government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) has been promoting environmental issues as one of its priorities since the beginning of its administration. The government’s efforts have been seen as positive, but still insufficient by experts.
Last year, the Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) itself admitted to Estadão that the firefighting structure in the Amazon is insufficient. “Obviously, we need to plan better, have better structures,” said Rodrigo Agostinho, president of the agency.
This week, on Tuesday, the IBAMA employees announced a halt to their activities in inspecting deforestation, illegal mining, and prevention and combat of forest fires, which could worsen the situation. “This is a direct response to the lack of action and effective support for the employees and the critical missions we perform,” they justified at the time.
The extreme weather events, such as those caused by the intensification of El Niño – including the fires in the Amazon and the Cerrado throughout 2023 – also contribute to increasing the problem and require more effective and coordinated action from the federal government.
As Estadão reported, the prospect of hosting the United Nations Climate Summit in 2025 in Belém will increase the pressure on the government, which will have to seek larger reductions in deforestation, align the discourse of preservation with the potential of the green economy, and position itself as a leader in the environmental debate.
According to environmental engineer Tasso Azevedo, there has been a change in perspective in the Amazon. “The government has resumed remote embargoes, each deforestation is reported and this report generates penalties. Financing is cut by banks in case of illegal deforestation – and this has led to a rapid decline in deforestation. It is a recipe that we know works.” For him, coordinator of the MapBiomas network, deforestation will not increase again in the forest unless these strategies are abandoned.
The Cerrado is essential for the hydrological balance of the country, according to Pedro Camargo Neto, former president of the Brazilian Rural Society and cattle farmer. He believes that a 50% rate of illegality regarding deforestation in the Cerrado is “very high.”
“Presenting them together makes it difficult to understand what is necessary for each type of deforestation,” says Camargo Neto. “For illegal deforestation, it is clear what needs to be done: enforcement and policing. As for legal deforestation, a significant part of the Cerrado still requires debate and the development of solutions. It is important to understand, discuss, and not mix it with the illegal. Otherwise, we will never reach a good solution,” he asserts.
The Cerrado is crucial for the hydrological balance of the country. It is also a significant contributor to agribusiness production (such as soy and cattle), one of the main drivers of the economy, which relies on the survival of this biome to maintain its high levels of productivity.
According to Tasso Azevedo, two strategies are essential for the protection of this biome. One is to increase the proportion of protected territory. Currently, this proportion stands at around 12% to 14%, according to him. Ideally, it should be raised to 30%.
“The second thing is to prevent government-subsidized financing from being used in deforested areas, whether legal or illegal deforestation,” he suggests.
What does the Ministry of the Environment say?
Contacted by Estadão, the Ministry of the Environment states that “the decrease in deforestation in the Amazon is the result of the resumption of environmental and climate governance and the strengthening of command and control actions after four years of setbacks.” The Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Deforestation in the Amazon (PPCDAm), which had been repealed in 2019, was updated and relaunched in June 2023.
“From January to November, the fines imposed by IBAMA for crimes against flora in the Amazon increased by 114% compared to the average for the same period from 2019 to 2022,” the ministry says. “Deforestation embargoes in the forest rose by 73%, seizures by 72%, and equipment destruction by 153%, also from January to November.”
Regarding the Cerrado, the ministry states that it launched the Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Deforestation in the Cerrado (PPCerrado) in November, developed with the participation of 13 ministries and 22 invited agencies. Among other measures to support the preservation of the biome, it includes a review of rural credit regulations, with restrictions on access to credit for those engaged in illegal deforestation, implemented by the National Monetary Council.
“Previously restricted to the Amazon, the measure was expanded to other biomes last year and includes state-level embargoes, in addition to federal ones,” the ministry says. “The plans for the other Brazilian biomes – Caatinga, Atlantic Forest, Pampa, and Pantanal – will be launched in the first semester of 2024.”
Regarding the lack of clarity about deforestation data regarding the legality and illegality of deforestation, the ministry says that since a large portion of the authorizations from the states is not fully integrated into the federal system, “it becomes unfeasible to automatically and on a large scale segregate what is legal and illegal through cross-referencing with information on deforestation.”
“This hampers the supplementary enforcement of illegal deforestation, which is carried out by IBAMA,” acknowledges the ministry. “There are ongoing studies on integrating state databases with the federal government in a project funded by the Amazon Fund,” it says.