BRAZIL NEEDS TO MONITOR ITS TROPICAL REGENERATION

The report highlights a critical gap in Brazil's environmental monitoring: while primary forest loss is tracked via PRODES and DETER, secondary vegetation (regrowth in deforested areas) remains 'invisible' to official systems. This lack of data hinders the ability to verify reforestation goals and enforce the Forest Code. The authors argue that monitoring is technologically feasible and cost-effective, estimating a price tag of around US $500 thousand for implementation within a year. They recommend establishing clear classification criteria, developing complementary short-term (alert-based) and long-term (trend-based) systems, utilizing existing LANDSAT/OLI and CBERS/WFI satellite imagery, and implementing a dedicated communication strategy for policymakers.

• Secondary vegetation in the Brazilian Amazon grew significantly between 2004 and 2014, increasing by more than 70%, with over 17 million hectares showing signs of regeneration by 2014.
• Current official monitoring systems, PRODES and DETER, cannot detect secondary vegetation because they operate using a 'deforestation mask' that ignores areas previously identified as deforested.
• Implementing a remote monitoring system for tropical forest regeneration is technologically feasible and could be achieved within one year for approximately US $500 thousand.
• The authors propose a dual-system approach: one for medium and long-term tracking of gains and losses, and a short-term alert system to enable law enforcement to punish the illegal clearing of secondary vegetation.
• Preliminary models for the proposed system can be built using existing satellite imagery from LANDSAT/OLI (20-30 m resolution) and CBERS/WFI (64 m resolution) archives.

APA

ASSUNÇÃO, J., ALMEIDA, C., & GANDOUR, C. (2020). BRAZIL NEEDS TO MONITOR ITS TROPICAL REGENERATION. Climate Policy Initiative. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/whitepaper-Brazil-needs-to-monitor-its-tropical-regeneration.pdf

Chicago

ASSUNÇÃO, JULIANO, CLÁUDIO ALMEIDA, and CLARISSA GANDOUR. BRAZIL NEEDS TO MONITOR ITS TROPICAL REGENERATION. Climate Policy Initiative, 2020. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/whitepaper-Brazil-needs-to-monitor-its-tropical-regeneration.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=ASSUNÇÃO |first1=JULIANO |last2=ALMEIDA |first2=CLÁUDIO |last3=GANDOUR |first3=CLARISSA |title=BRAZIL NEEDS TO MONITOR ITS TROPICAL REGENERATION |publisher=Climate Policy Initiative |date=July 2020 |url=https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/whitepaper-Brazil-needs-to-monitor-its-tropical-regeneration.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{assuno2020brazil, author = {ASSUNÇÃO, JULIANO and ALMEIDA, CLÁUDIO and GANDOUR, CLARISSA}, title = {{BRAZIL NEEDS TO MONITOR ITS TROPICAL REGENERATION}}, institution = {Climate Policy Initiative}, year = {2020}, month = jul, url = {https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/whitepaper-Brazil-needs-to-monitor-its-tropical-regeneration.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }