Hostname: page-component-7bb8b95d7b-495rp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-10-06T04:00:36.504Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Accelerating deforestation in Brazilian Amazonia: towards answering open questions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 April 2004

PHILIP M. FEARNSIDE
Affiliation:
National Institute for Research in the Amazon (INPA), Av. André Araújo, 2936, CP 478, 69011-970 Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
REINALDO IMBROZIO BARBOSA
Affiliation:
National Institute for Research in the Amazon (INPA), Av. André Araújo, 2936, CP 478, 69011-970 Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil

Abstract

The annual rate of deforestation in Brazilian Amazonia jumped by an estimated 40% between 2001 and 2002. This increase is in addition to a 15% upward revision by the Brazilian government of the estimated rate for 2001. Examination of the data underlying these estimates and comparisons with other measurements indicates that important questions remain unanswered, especially in the state of Mato Grosso, where assessment of the effectiveness of a deforestation licensing and control programme is critical to future efforts to contain forest destruction. The increase in deforestation rate in Mato Grosso in 2002 (23%) was less than half the increase in the remainder of Brazilian Amazonia (55%), indicating that the state government's deforestation control programme may have had some effect.

Type
Papers
Copyright
© 2004 Foundation for Environmental Conservation

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)