Ao mirar no desmatamento, Brasil acerta na regeneração

This policy brief by the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI/PUC-Rio) analyzes how Brazilian public policies aimed at combating primary deforestation in the Amazon unintentionally fostered tropical regeneration between 2004 and 2014. The document argues that environmental monitoring and enforcement acted as a deterrent, leading illegal actors to abandon regions and allowing natural forest recovery to occur.

• Between 2004 and 2014, the Amazon experienced a significant increase in tropical secondary vegetation, growing by more than 70% from under 10 million hectares to approximately 17 million hectares. During this same period, the primary deforestation rate in the Amazon decreased by 80%.
• Research by CPI/PUC-Rio indicates that environmental monitoring and enforcement focused exclusively on primary deforestation created a positive externality by promoting tropical regeneration. The presence of enforcement inhibited illegal activities more broadly; as offenders perceived a higher risk of punishment, they abandoned certain regions, which enabled natural regeneration processes.
• The Brazilian government's forest monitoring systems, specifically PRODES and DETER, have a 'blind spot' regarding secondary vegetation. PRODES maps deforested areas and incorporates them into a 'deforestation mask,' and DETER scans for forest loss only outside this mask. Consequently, any gains or losses in secondary vegetation within the mask remain invisible to these systems and environmental authorities.
• The document identifies two potential channels through which primary deforestation enforcement affects regeneration: 'displacement' and 'deterrence.' While displacement would lead to a loss of secondary vegetation as offenders move their activities to avoid detection, the empirical results support the 'deterrence' channel, where the risk of operating in a region leads to total abandonment of illegal activities and subsequent natural recovery.
• The policy brief recommends that Brazil integrate tropical regeneration into its public policy agenda. Specifically, it suggests adapting remote sensing technology to monitor secondary vegetation to combat 'secondary deforestation' and ensuring that enforcement agencies have the legal and practical support to investigate and punish illegal secondary deforestation.
• Global restoration of 350 million hectares of degraded and deforested areas could potentially absorb 1.7 GtCO2 per year and generate approximately 170 billion dollars in net benefits from water resource protection, increased agricultural productivity, and forest products.

APA

Assunção, J., Rodrigues, H., & Gandour, C. (2020). Ao mirar no desmatamento, Brasil acerta na regeneração. Climate Policy Initiative. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/PB-Ao-mirar-no-desmatamento-Brasil-acerta-na-regeneração-1.pdf

Chicago

Assunção, Juliano, Helena Rodrigues, and Clarissa Gandour. Ao mirar no desmatamento, Brasil acerta na regeneração. Climate Policy Initiative, 2020. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/PB-Ao-mirar-no-desmatamento-Brasil-acerta-na-regeneração-1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Assunção |first1=Juliano |last2=Rodrigues |first2=Helena |last3=Gandour |first3=Clarissa |title=Ao mirar no desmatamento, Brasil acerta na regeneração |publisher=Climate Policy Initiative |date=April 2020 |url=https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/PB-Ao-mirar-no-desmatamento-Brasil-acerta-na-regeneração-1.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{assuno2020mirar, author = {Assunção, Juliano and Rodrigues, Helena and Gandour, Clarissa}, title = {{Ao mirar no desmatamento, Brasil acerta na regeneração}}, institution = {Climate Policy Initiative}, year = {2020}, month = apr, url = {https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/PB-Ao-mirar-no-desmatamento-Brasil-acerta-na-regeneração-1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }