Brazil’s conservation reform and the reduction of deforestation in Amazonia

Highlights

• PPCDAm promoted a drastic conservation reform in Brazil.

• Many PPCDAm-related activities are not discussed in the literature.

• Recent surge in deforestation may jeopardize previous success from PPCDAm.

Abstract

The Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Deforestation in the Legal Amazon (PPCDAm), launched in 2004, promoted a drastic conservation reform in Brazil. To date, the plan has been through four distinct phases: PPCDAm-I (2004–2008), II (2009–2011), III (2012–2015), and IV (2016–2020). A substantial decline from historically high deforestation rates in the Amazon occurred from 2004 to 2012, part of which (particularly after 2007) can be attributed to the PPCDAm, and part to economic factors such as commodity prices and the currency exchange rates that affect the profitability of agricultural exports. After 2012 deforestation has trended upward despite control efforts. The PPCDAm evolved through its four phases, consequently changing the patterns of deforestation in Amazonia. Here, we review the conservation instruments and strategies promoted under the PPCDAm umbrella and, when possible, provide estimates of their impacts on deforestation based on rigorous, counterfactual evaluations. While the literature emphasizes some of the most well-known PPCDAm actions, e.g., improved satellite-based monitoring, the “blacklist” of municipalities, expansion of protected areas, land tenure regularization, credit access restrictions, and moratoria, we highlight a number of other PPCDAm activities that, along with the previous examples, are arguably also responsible for a significant share of the reduction of deforestation in the region.

Introduction

Brazil’s Amazonian deforestation declined by ∼80 % between 2004 and 2012, followed by an upward trend (Fig. 1). Informing future deforestation-control measures requires understanding the role of the Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Deforestation in the Legal Amazon (PPCDAm, the Portuguese-language acronym¹), in the initial decline and subsequent surge in forest loss. However, the PPCDAm, launched in 2004, is a complex and still ongoing plan, currently in its fourth phase (2016–2020). It resulted from an interministerial working group established by the federal government (Decree of July 3, 2003) with the objective of mitigating the rising trend of rainforest loss in the region in a coherent, integrated, and effective manner. In particular, the plan was a direct response to the June 2003 report from Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research(INPE) indicating an increase of ∼40 % in deforestation between July 2001 and August 2002 (Brazil, 2004). The plan was unique in the sense that it involved the collaboration of dozens of ministries and it was coordinated by the Civil House of the Presidency until March 2013, when coordination was transferred to the Ministry of Environment (Decree 7957). It has evolved substantially since its creation in response to changes in deforestation patterns, which can be (at least partially) attributed to the plan itself due to the promotion of a series of land planning activities, new forest-monitoring and law-enforcement systems, and sustainable development programs (Arima et al., 2014; Assunção et al., 2015; Azevedo et al., 2017; Börner et al., 2015; Cisneros et al., 2015). While many have studied individual components of the plan, the literature still lacks a comprehensive review of the PPCDAm. The objective of this review is to fill this gap by examining the plan’s four phases and emphasizing PPCDAm’s evolution and achievements. We primarily summarize information from official government reports (over 1200 pages written in the Portuguese language, and only understood by a limited number of non-Brazilian researchers). When possible, we complement this review with findings from the peer-reviewed literature. While this study does not estimate the PPCDAm’s impact on avoided deforestation, it discusses how the effectiveness of the plan has varied over time and argues that similar conservation reforms must be given high priority in efforts to stem the loss of tropical rainforests.