Vital Forest Graphics

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rainforest in the world

2050: Worst case scenario for the Amazon rainforest

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Deforestation Forest Savanna

GUYANA

VENEZUELA

COLOMBIA

SURINAME

FRENCH GUYANA

COLOMBIA

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BRAZIL

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BRAZIL

BOLIVIA

Source: Amazon Institute for Environmental Research L[ HS . 2006.

Deforestation in Brazil com- pared with the area of Turkey

making previously remote areas of forest accessible to farmers and ranchers, thus facilitating conversion of forest land to agricultural crops and use as pas- ture. It is estimated that 90 per cent of deforestation in the Amazon region has occurred within 50 kilometres of roads (INPE, 2008). There are indications that after a relative drop in deforestation over the 2004 to 2007 period, deforestation rates in Brazil have again been rising encouraged by record world prices for both soya beans and beef, pushing the agricultural frontier ever further into the rainforest. Global climate change has already contributed to rising temperatures in the Amazon which, when combined with deforestation, have led to a cycle of lower precipitation and a greater fre- quency of droughts. Researchers at Bra- zil’sNational Institute for SpaceResearch say that the Amazon could reach a tip- ping point – the point at which defor- estation and climate change combine to trigger self-sustaining desertification –

in 50-60 years (Reuters 2008). The development of government policies such as Zona Franca Verde or green free trade zones, and the 80:20 land use practice have led to some decline in deforestation. Further to refrain the deforestation, the Brazil- ian Government was one of the first to adopt a system of payment for environ- mental services. In 2008, the Brazilian Government announced the enlargement of a net- work of protected areas under the Ama- zon Region Protected Area Programme (ARPA), to cover nearly 600 000 square kilometres of the Amazon by 2016. The government has also announced the creation of a US$21 billion fund called the Amazon Fund, to pay for projects designed to prevent deforestation, support conservation and sustainable development of the Amazon region (AFP 2008).

TURKEY : 780 000 sq. km

1968-1978 : 152 200 sq. km

1968-1988 : 377 500 sq. km

1968-1998 : 541 450 sq. km

1968-2008 : 730 000 sq. km