State of the Rainforest 2014

of the ´Pact for zero deforestation in the Amazon’, elaborated in 2007 by civil society and subsequently involving the private sector, the Public Prosecutor’s Office and then state governments, with implications for the soy and cattle supply chain. The reduction of deforestation rates in Brazil would, however, not have been possible without a series of institutional frameworks created during the 15 years which preceded the Constitution of 1988. These include the creation of the National Environmental Policy, the National System for Protected Areas, the Forest Code (in its version prior to 2012), and the PRODES system. Between 2009 and 2013, reduced activities and less political innovation in the fight against deforestation brought marked slowdown in the pace of reduction. Between 2004 and 2009, deforestation had fallen 73%, but between 2009 and 2013 the corresponding figure was only 22%. In 2013 deforestation rose slightly (28%) compared to 2012, but was still less than 6000 km 2 , almost 80% below 2004. Since 2010 there has been a series of setbacks in policies that support the important decline in deforestation in Brazil. This negative development has included changes to the Forest Code that reduce the areas protected by law in rural properties, stalling of the creation of indigenous lands and protected areas, and the systematic reduction of protected areas to allow for expansion of infrastructure projects. How to get back on track On the positive side, between 2005 and 2012 when there was a decline in deforestation in Brazil, the country saw its economy grow at almost double the rate of the years of record deforestation between 1995 and 2004. At the same time, Brazil also experienced a drastic reduction in poverty and a strong growth in agricultural production. Despite the decrease, Brazil today still has the largest annual deforestation of all countries of the world. Our challenge is not only to prevent deforestation from rising again, but to get back on track towards ending the loss of native forest cover in the country. For this to happen, the following initiatives will be crucial: • Extend the annual monitoring of deforestation (PRODES) and the detection of deforestation in real time (DETER) to all biomes. • Complete the Rural Environmental Registers and their Plans for Environmental Recovery of all Brazilian properties. • Establish a programme of financial incentives for maintaining standing forest. • Reopen the process to expand and consolidate protected areas in all biomes. • Promote forest-based economy by increasing the area under sustainable forest management and doubling the areas for sustainable use. • Promote the regeneration of 600,000 km 2 of degraded pastures, combined with the restoration of forest cover in critical areas.

frequently been invoked by those who carried out deforestation: to obtain impunity they claimed that they could not be held responsible since they did not possess the title deeds to the land. A resolution approved by the National Monetary Council prohibited banks from supplying rural credits to ranches containing restricted areas and not engaged in processes for environmental compliance. Within the same framework, cattle from these restricted areas were confiscated in operations that became known as `Pirate Cattle’. From 2006, the management of public forests in Brazil was regulated (Law 11.282) to increase sustainable forest management and introduce the system of forest concessions in the Amazon. As a consequence of the security provided by long-term concessions (normally 40 years) concession holders invest in monitoring and low impact logging techniques. The area under sustainable forest management tripled between 2003 and 2012. The Amazon Fund The Amazon Fund was created in 2008 to attract international donations for the results obtained in reducing deforestation, to be used for the protection and sustainable use of the forest. This provided incentives for all Amazon states to develop state plans for combating deforestation. Civil society organizations in partnership with municipalities scaled up initiatives with the Rural Environmental Register, payment for environmental services and the environmental regularization of rural properties. These actions, and many others, are multi-institutional. They transform successful civil society pilot projects into large-scale public policies. Experience from civil society was fundamental for raising the level of ambitions within the team that led the process for implementing the PPCDAM. A good example is the bold initiative

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STATE OF THE RAINFOREST 2014