STRENGTHENING BRAZIL’S FOREST PROTECTION IN A CHANGING LANDSCAPE

This policy brief by the Climate Policy Initiative analyzes the shift in Amazon deforestation from large-scale to small-scale clearings. It highlights how remote sensing-based monitoring, while effective at reducing large clearings, fails to detect areas of 25 hectares or less, leading landholders in states like Mato Grosso and Pará to adapt their practices to avoid detection.

• Brazil's annual deforestation rates dropped from 27,000 km² in the mid-2000s to 4,500 km² in the early 2010s, largely due to conservation policies introduced in 2004. However, deforestation has shifted toward smaller tracts of land, which are harder to detect. Small-scale clearings grew from representing a quarter to more than half of overall annual clearings between the early 2000s and early 2010s.
• The remote sensing-based monitoring and enforcement program used in Brazil has a technical limitation: it cannot detect deforestation on a scale of 25 hectares or less. This has led medium- and large-size property holders in both Mato Grosso and Pará to adapt by shifting their land clearing practices to smaller areas to escape detection.
• Regional differences exist in deforestation behavior between Mato Grosso and Pará. In Pará, small-size property holders emerged as the primary agents of forest clearing and were more likely to elude monitoring systems due to smaller average property sizes compared to Mato Grosso. In Mato Grosso, smallholders initially cleared larger tracts in the early 2000s before shifting to smaller increments as enforcement increased.
• The document recommends that policymakers adapt by creating new strategies specifically targeting small-scale deforestation, tailoring policies to regional characteristics, and enhancing remote sensing technology to detect clearings smaller than 25 hectares.

APA

Pessoa, P., & Rocha, R. (n.d.). STRENGTHENING BRAZIL’S FOREST PROTECTION IN A CHANGING LANDSCAPE. Climate Policy Initiative. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/CPI_Brief_Strengthening_Brazils_Forest_Protection.pdf

Chicago

Pessoa, Pedro, and Romero Rocha. STRENGTHENING BRAZIL’S FOREST PROTECTION IN A CHANGING LANDSCAPE. Climate Policy Initiative, n.d. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/CPI_Brief_Strengthening_Brazils_Forest_Protection.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Pessoa |first1=Pedro |last2=Rocha |first2=Romero |title=STRENGTHENING BRAZIL’S FOREST PROTECTION IN A CHANGING LANDSCAPE |publisher=Climate Policy Initiative |url=https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/CPI_Brief_Strengthening_Brazils_Forest_Protection.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{pessoandstrengthening, author = {Pessoa, Pedro and Rocha, Romero}, title = {{STRENGTHENING BRAZIL’S FOREST PROTECTION IN A CHANGING LANDSCAPE}}, institution = {Climate Policy Initiative}, url = {https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/CPI_Brief_Strengthening_Brazils_Forest_Protection.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }