Study points out challenges and solutions to keep legal deforestation under control in Brazil’s Matopiba region
Public policy suggestions offered at the launch of a data platform on forest replenishment, produced by the Climate Policy Initiative/PUC-Rio with support from the Land Innovation Fund
More than 100 million hectares of native vegetation located on farms throughout Brazil are eligible for conversion to human activities. Flaws in the issuance of Authorizations for the Suppression of Vegetation (ASVs), however, compromise controls over legal deforestation in this country. This is the conclusion of an analysis by the Climate Policy Initiative/PUC-Rio (CPI/PUC-Rio) supported by the Land Innovation Fund, which recommends improvements to the management, monitoring, and control of legal deforestation, especially in the Matopiba agricultural frontier region. The survey is part of a broader study on forest replenishment mechanisms that also features the launch of an online platform with related information and analysis.
In 2023, the Cerrado recorded the highest rate of deforestation in historical series of the official Real-Time Deforestation Detection System (DETER), up 43% over the previous year. In the Matopiba agricultural frontier straddling the states of Maranhão, Tocantins, Piauí and Bahia, the situation is even worse, with 75% of the biome's deforestation last year. Even when allowed by law, deforestation depletes biodiversity and ecosystem services, while increasing greenhouse gas emissions and aggravating climate change. "The CPI/PUC-Rio study identifies sensitive points and proposes solutions to improve public governance with greater access to information on legal deforestation and forest replenishment, as a direct contribution to promoting sustainable agriculture in the country," says Ashley Valle, director of the Land Innovation Fund.
The main legal tool control legal deforestation, an Authorization for the Suppression of Vegetation (ASV), is based on data filed into both state systems and the National System to Control the Origin of Forestry Products (SINAFLOR). Farmers wishing to clear an area must fill in all the necessary information to assist in the analysis and respective approvals by competent environmental agencies. Yet not all requests are fed into the system designed to monitor legal deforestation, thus allowing information to be underreported. Technical barriers to integrating databases also hinder transparency and access to information.
"Every ASV issued in the country should be registered in SINAFLOR, but only part of them are actually in the system. Some states don't record authorizations unrelated to the use of forest products; other entries are incomplete or incorrect. This all leads to underreporting of legal deforestation. In addition, it is difficult for states to use SINAFLOR and the system is not integrated with other databases, such as the National Rural Environmental Registry System (SICAR) and the land-holding database," says Luiza Antonaccio, a senior legal analyst at CPI/PUC-Rio.
The CPI/PUC-Rio researchers’ survey gave rise to three recommendations to improve Brazil's regulation and governance of authorizations to suppress native vegetation: 1) a normative act making state environmental agencies responsible for issuing ASVs and, where appropriate, stipulating criteria for delegating such power to municipalities; 2) improvements to SINAFLOR or the creation of a new tool to manage ASVs more effectively; 3) complete and up-to-date records of ASV request and issuance data in the system, with open access for other government agencies, financial institutions, the private sector, academia and civil society.
The researchers underline the importance of implementing the study's three recommendations in order to achieve the goal of zero deforestation by 2030, set out in the fourth phase of the Action Plan for Prevention and Control of Deforestation in the Cerrado Biome (PPCerrado), published by the Federal Government in November 2023. "Achieving this goal involves not only fighting illegal deforestation, but also specific strategies to deal with legal deforestation in the biome. This is fundamental to ensuring a sustainable future for the Cerrado," concludes Cristina Leme Lopes, senior research manager at the CPI/PUC-Rio.
Further information and analyses on legal deforestation in the country and the efficient use of the replenishment mechanism are available on the Legal Deforestation and Forest Replenishment/Offset Governance Platform.
About Climate Policy Initiative/PUC-Rio
The Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) is an organization with international expertise in finance and policy, with six offices around the world. In Brazil, CPI has a partnership with the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio). The CPI/PUC-Rio supports public climate policies in Brazil through evidence-based analyses and strategic partnerships with policymakers and civil society.