Targeting Deforestation, Boosting Regeneration

This policy brief by the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI/PUC-Rio) examines how Brazil's law enforcement and monitoring efforts to reduce primary deforestation in the Amazon unintentionally promoted tropical forest regeneration between 2004 and 2014.

• Between 2004 and 2014, the Brazilian Amazon saw a significant increase in tropical secondary vegetation, growing from under 10 million hectares to more than 17 million hectares, representing an increase of over 70%. During this same period, deforestation rates in the region decreased by 80%.
• Research by CPI/PUC-Rio indicates that environmental monitoring and law enforcement specifically designed to stop primary deforestation created a positive 'spillover' effect that encouraged forest regrowth. The presence of enforcement targeting illegal primary deforestation deterred potential offenders from operating in those regions entirely, which allowed natural regeneration to occur.
• The positive impact of law enforcement on regeneration was most pronounced in areas that still contained some primary vegetation, indicating that local environmental conditions affect the capacity of an ecosystem to recover naturally.
• Brazil's current satellite-based monitoring systems, specifically the System for Real-time Detection of Deforestation (DETER) and the Project for Monitoring Deforestation in the Legal Amazon (PRODES), are unable to detect the loss of secondary vegetation. This is because they utilize a 'deforestation mask' that treats previously deforested areas as blind spots.
• The document recommends that Brazil integrate tropical regrowth into its conservation agenda by adapting remote-sensing technology to monitor secondary vegetation and ensuring law enforcement can legally investigate and penalize illegal secondary deforestation.
• On a global scale, restoring 350 million hectares of deforested and degraded lands by 2030 could potentially absorb 1.7 GtCO2 annually and generate approximately USD 170 billion in net annual benefits from forest products, improved agricultural yields, and watershed protection.

APA

Assunção, J., Rodrigues, H., & Gandour, C. (2020). Targeting Deforestation, Boosting Regeneration. Climate Policy Initiative. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/PB-Targeting-Deforestation-Boosting-Regeneration.pdf

Chicago

Assunção, Juliano, Helena Rodrigues, and Clarissa Gandour. Targeting Deforestation, Boosting Regeneration. Climate Policy Initiative, 2020. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/PB-Targeting-Deforestation-Boosting-Regeneration.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Assunção |first1=Juliano |last2=Rodrigues |first2=Helena |last3=Gandour |first3=Clarissa |title=Targeting Deforestation, Boosting Regeneration |publisher=Climate Policy Initiative |date=April 2020 |url=https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/PB-Targeting-Deforestation-Boosting-Regeneration.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{assuno2020targeting, author = {Assunção, Juliano and Rodrigues, Helena and Gandour, Clarissa}, title = {{Targeting Deforestation, Boosting Regeneration}}, institution = {Climate Policy Initiative}, year = {2020}, month = apr, url = {https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/PB-Targeting-Deforestation-Boosting-Regeneration.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }