Brazilian public policy to reduce deforestation and to implement

Conservation Agriculture in the Amazon

Cordeiro LAM1, Galerani PR

2 Sá TDA

3, Freitas MN

4, Dossa AA

5

1Researcher, Ph.D., Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa), Brasília, Brazil.

luiz.cordeiro@embrapa.br. 2Researcher, Ph.D., Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa), Brasília, Brazil.

3Researcher, Ph.D., Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa), Brasília, Brazil.

4Ms.C., Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa), Brasília, Brazil.

5Ms.C., Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa), Brasília, Brazil.

Key-words: deforestation, conservation agriculture, public policy, Amazon.

Introduction

About 18% of the Amazon rainforest has already been deforested. In order to solve the illegal

deforestation problem in the Amazon, the Federal Government in 2004 implemented the

“Action Plan for Prevention and Control of Deforestation in the Amazon”, coordinated by the

Central Brazilian Government, which brings together 13 Ministries and related agencies. This

Plan main result was the reduction of deforestation rate. For example, the reduction decreased

from 21,651 km² in 2002 to 6,451 km² in 2010, as shown in Figure 1 (Brasil, 2010). In 2009,

the Federal Government listed 43 counties of Legal Amazon which is the socio-geographic

division of Brazil comprising the total Amazon territory. These counties are responsible for

more than 55% of deforestation in this region (Figure 2). This region became known as “Arc

of Deforestation” (in Portuguese “Arco do Desmatamento”). The government intensified the

Federal Police actions in this region, which was known as “Arc of Fire Operation” (in

Portuguese “Operação Arco de Fogo”). During this Operation were arrested loggers and

closed illegal logging companies, which led to reduced rates of deforestation but also caused

a socioeconomic instability in this region.

Figure 1 – Annual Deforestation Rates in Legal Amazon

Figure 2 – Priorities counties of Legal Amazonia to Prevention and Control of Deforestation

in the Amazon

Green Arc Operation: Public Policy to Reduce Deforestation and to Implement

Conservation Agriculture in the Amazon

The “Green Arc Operation” (in Portuguese “Operação Arco Verde”) was created to decrease

the social impact of actions caused by the “Arc of Fire Operation”. This Operation initiated in

2008 with main goals: promote sustainable agricultural systems in the counties elected as

priorities for the control and reduction of deforestation in the Amazon; to stimulate the

transition to sustainable agriculture model; and, complementation of the Federal Police

actions to decrease deforestation. The Operation goal is to substitute the environmentally

inappropriate activities by sustainable agricultural systems to support managers and farmers,

politically and technically, in those counties. This support should facilitate the transformation

for legal activities and sustainable agricultural production, and better use of native forests.

Actions will be undertaken for technology transfer, training technicians and farmers, location

of nurseries and seed collecting of native species. Many Ministries and public government

agencies are involved with the “Green Arc Operation”. EMBRAPA is the Brazilian

Agricultural Research Corporation and collaborates in this public policy with technology and

knowledge transfer, and to the goals of the Operation, through the following technologies:

Agroforestry Systems; Crop-Livestock-Forest Integration under No-tillage; Fisheries and

Aquaculture; Forest Management; and, Good Agricultural Practices.

References

Brasil. Presidência da República – Casa Civil. Relatório de Situação 2010 – Operação Arco

Verde. Brasília: Casa Civil, 2010. 108p.