We Need to Talk About Forest Degradation in the Amazon: Brazilian Public Policy Must Understand and Address this Threat

This report argues that Brazilian public policy focuses excessively on clear-cut deforestation while overlooking forest degradation in the Amazon. The author contends that degradation—defined as the partial loss of vegetation—is a distinct phenomenon with its own drivers that contributes significantly more to greenhouse gas emissions and biomass loss than deforestation does, necessitating a shift in how Brazil monitors and reports environmental performance.

• Forest degradation is a critical driver of global carbon emissions, accounting for nearly 70% of emissions from tropical forests between 2003 and 2014, compared to 30% from deforestation. Unlike deforestation, emissions from degradation are not always immediate, as degraded forests are less resilient and may continue to emit more carbon than they absorb for many years.
• In the Brazilian Amazon, forest degradation is as extensive as, or larger than, deforestation on an annual average. Between 2010 and 2019, degradation was estimated to be responsible for three quarters of gross biomass loss in the region, while deforestation accounted for only one quarter.
• Forest degradation is driven by three primary activities: selective logging, forest fires, and the process of deforestation itself. Selective logging removes native species and creates access roads; fires destroy vulnerable plants and reduce overall resilience; and deforestation creates forest borders exposed to atypical temperature, light, and wind conditions that trigger further degradation.
• Despite possessing the technology and technical capacity to track degradation—including near-real-time alerts and data on active fires—Brazil's environmental performance metrics and greenhouse gas emission inventories essentially ignore degraded forests in favor of focusing solely on deforestation.
• No Amazon country currently reports emissions from forest degradation or sets targets to reduce them, despite the UNFCCC supporting financial incentives for such reductions via REDD+ mechanisms. The report suggests Brazil incorporate degradation measures into its performance metrics to reclaim a leading international role in climate action.

APA

Gandour, C. (2022). We Need to Talk About Forest Degradation in the Amazon: Brazilian Public Policy Must Understand and Address this Threat. Climate Policy Initiative. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/publication/we-need-to-talk-about-forest-degradation-in-the-amazon-brazilian-public-policy-must-understand-and-address-this-threat/

Chicago

Gandour, Clarissa. We Need to Talk About Forest Degradation in the Amazon: Brazilian Public Policy Must Understand and Address this Threat. Climate Policy Initiative, 2022. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/publication/we-need-to-talk-about-forest-degradation-in-the-amazon-brazilian-public-policy-must-understand-and-address-this-threat/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Gandour |first1=Clarissa |title=We Need to Talk About Forest Degradation in the Amazon: Brazilian Public Policy Must Understand and Address this Threat |publisher=Climate Policy Initiative |date=16 August 2022 |url=https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/publication/we-need-to-talk-about-forest-degradation-in-the-amazon-brazilian-public-policy-must-understand-and-address-this-threat/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{gandour2022need, author = {Gandour, Clarissa}, title = {{We Need to Talk About Forest Degradation in the Amazon: Brazilian Public Policy Must Understand and Address this Threat}}, institution = {Climate Policy Initiative}, year = {2022}, month = aug, url = {https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/publication/we-need-to-talk-about-forest-degradation-in-the-amazon-brazilian-public-policy-must-understand-and-address-this-threat/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }