DETERring Deforestation in the Amazon: Environmental Monitoring and Law Enforcement

The study finds that environmental monitoring and law enforcement effectively reduced deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. Using DETER cloud coverage as an instrumental variable to address endogeneity, the authors estimate that reducing monitoring and law enforcement by half would increase municipal deforestation by approximately 44%. The analysis indicates that these efforts did not cause deforestation to leak into neighboring areas and did not negatively impact local agricultural production; in fact, agricultural outcomes improved. A cost-benefit analysis suggests the strategy was cost-effective, with a break-even price of USD 0.69/tCO2, significantly below prevailing carbon prices.

• Environmental monitoring and law enforcement were effective in curbing deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon from 2006 through 2016.
• The impact of enforcement is sizable: a 50% reduction in monitoring and law enforcement is estimated to increase municipal deforestation by 44%.
• The DETER system's inability to detect land cover beneath clouds creates a valid instrumental variable, as years with higher cloud coverage saw significantly lower law enforcement activity, proxied by the number of fines issued.
• Local enforcement efforts did not lead to the displacement of illegal deforestation into neighboring municipalities; instead, evidence suggests positive regional spillovers (contagion).
• Environmental law enforcement did not harm local agricultural production; rather, both the value and quantity of production improved in municipalities with a greater law enforcement presence.
• A cost-benefit analysis indicates that the monitoring and enforcement strategy was cost-effective, with a break-even price of USD 0.69/tCO2, which is well below current carbon pricing initiatives.
• The use of near-real-time satellite monitoring increased the probability of catching offenders 'red-handed,' allowing for more binding penalties such as the seizure and destruction of expensive capital equipment.

APA

Assunção, J., Gandour, C., & Rocha, R. (2019). DETERring Deforestation in the Amazon: Environmental Monitoring and Law Enforcement. Climate Policy Initiative. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/WP003-DETERing-Deforestation-in-the-Amazon.pdf

Chicago

Assunção, Juliano, Clarissa Gandour, and Romero Rocha. DETERring Deforestation in the Amazon: Environmental Monitoring and Law Enforcement. Climate Policy Initiative, 2019. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/WP003-DETERing-Deforestation-in-the-Amazon.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Assunção |first1=Juliano |last2=Gandour |first2=Clarissa |last3=Rocha |first3=Romero |title=DETERring Deforestation in the Amazon: Environmental Monitoring and Law Enforcement |publisher=Climate Policy Initiative |date=November 2019 |url=https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/WP003-DETERing-Deforestation-in-the-Amazon.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{assuno2019deterring, author = {Assunção, Juliano and Gandour, Clarissa and Rocha, Romero}, title = {{DETERring Deforestation in the Amazon: Environmental Monitoring and Law Enforcement}}, institution = {Climate Policy Initiative}, year = {2019}, month = nov, url = {https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/WP003-DETERing-Deforestation-in-the-Amazon.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }