INSIGHTS RURAL SETTLEMENTS AND SMALL-SCALE DEFORESTATION

Research by the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) and PUC-Rio indicates that rural settlements were responsible for 30% of deforestation in the Amazon region in 2014. The study highlights that 'special settlements', intended to promote sustainable production, contributed 15% of the total deforestation caused by all rural settlements. While Brazil successfully reduced large-scale clearings between 2004 and 2014 using the DETER satellite-monitoring system, small-scale clearings associated with rural farmers and ranchers became a more prominent driver of forest loss.

• Rural settlements were responsible for 30% of deforestation in the Amazon region in 2014, a finding that aligns with a separate 2016 study by the Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM).
• Special rural settlements, which are designed to support sustainable production techniques and environmentally-friendly practices, account for 15% of the total deforestation in the Amazon in 2014, representing half of the total deforestation caused by all rural settlements.
• The area covered by rural settlements in the Amazon increased by more than 70% between 2002 and 2014, growing from 220,000 km² to 376,000 km².
• While the DETER satellite-monitoring and enforcement system helped reduce overall deforestation by up to 80% between 2004 and 2014 by curbing large-scale clearings, it struggled to detect smaller clearings, which became the 'new frontier' of deforestation.

APA

Assunção, J., & Rocha, R. (2016). INSIGHTS RURAL SETTLEMENTS AND SMALL-SCALE DEFORESTATION. Climate Policy Initiative. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Rural_Settlements_and_Small_Scale_Deforestation_Brief_EN_FINAL.pdf

Chicago

Assunção, Juliano, and Romero Rocha. INSIGHTS RURAL SETTLEMENTS AND SMALL-SCALE DEFORESTATION. Climate Policy Initiative, 2016. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Rural_Settlements_and_Small_Scale_Deforestation_Brief_EN_FINAL.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Assunção |first1=Juliano |last2=Rocha |first2=Romero |title=INSIGHTS RURAL SETTLEMENTS AND SMALL-SCALE DEFORESTATION |publisher=Climate Policy Initiative |date=December 2016 |url=https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Rural_Settlements_and_Small_Scale_Deforestation_Brief_EN_FINAL.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{assuno2016insights, author = {Assunção, Juliano and Rocha, Romero}, title = {{INSIGHTS RURAL SETTLEMENTS AND SMALL-SCALE DEFORESTATION}}, institution = {Climate Policy Initiative}, year = {2016}, month = dec, url = {https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Rural_Settlements_and_Small_Scale_Deforestation_Brief_EN_FINAL.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }