Brazil Overturns State Zoning Law that Threatened Amazon Forests

In early 2011, the state of Mato Grosso passed a zoning law (ZSEE) that opened 50,000 km2 of forest for agriculture, leading to a documented 500 percent spike in deforestation within one month. A campaign led by the Instituto Centro de Vida (ICV), supported by WRI's governance assessment tools, utilized evidence-based advocacy to prompt a February 2012 injunction by the State Court and a March 2012 order from Brazil’s Federal Zoning Commission to redraft the legislation.

• The Mato Grosso state zoning law (ZSEE) passed in early 2011 opened 50,000 km2 of new forest areas for conversion to agriculture, which resulted in a deforestation spike of more than 500 percent within one month of the Governor's sanction.
• The ZSEE was suspended in February 2012 via an injunction by Mato Grosso’s State Court due to 'vices of form' and the resulting risk to human life, sustainable development, and natural goods and services. Subsequently, in March 2012, the Federal Zoning Commission of Brazil required the state government to redraft the legislation.
• The Instituto Centro de Vida (ICV) led the campaign against the law using a governance assessment of the ZSEE process conducted in 2010. This assessment employed the GFI Framework of Indicators (v.1), a diagnostic tool developed by WRI, ICV, and IMAZON, to document expert and civil society inputs from 2000-2010.

APA

World Resources Institute (2013). Brazil Overturns State Zoning Law that Threatened Amazon Forests. https://www.wri.org/outcomes/brazil-overturns-state-zoning-law-threatened-amazon-forests

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Brazil Overturns State Zoning Law that Threatened Amazon Forests. 2013. https://www.wri.org/outcomes/brazil-overturns-state-zoning-law-threatened-amazon-forests.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Brazil Overturns State Zoning Law that Threatened Amazon Forests |date=2 July 2013 |url=https://www.wri.org/outcomes/brazil-overturns-state-zoning-law-threatened-amazon-forests |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitute2013brazil, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Brazil Overturns State Zoning Law that Threatened Amazon Forests}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2013}, month = jul, url = {https://www.wri.org/outcomes/brazil-overturns-state-zoning-law-threatened-amazon-forests}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }