Analysis of deforestation rates and their drivers in the Brazilian Legal Amazon during the last three decades

Abstract

The Amazon forest is the most extensive rainforest of the planet. Its fundamental role in the climate balance and the intensification of economic activities, which have been degrading the vegetation cover in the last few decades, show the need for the conservation of Amazonia. This paper aims to analyze the deforestation rates in the Brazilian Legal Amazon (BLA) throughout the historical series of the Program for Deforestation Monitoring in the Brazilian Legal Amazon (PRODES) and discuss the values of forest loss accumulated until 2020 in each Federative Unit. Throughout the PRODES series, the highest deforestation rates were registered in 1995 and 2004. In the first case, it was measured after the currency change in Brazil with the Real Plan, while in the second, as a consequence of the economic recovery of the country, due to the stabilization of the currency – which boosted the economy, including agribusiness related sectors. The commodities’ crisis, the creation of public policies and on-field operations contributed to reduce deforestation until 2012. Nevertheless, since 2013 the rates have risen again, stimulated by the weakening of environmental legislation and the actions to fight against deforestation and by the favorable economic situation for expansion of agricultural activities. Around 20,62 % of the original forests located in BLA were suppressed until 2020, with the highest levels of forest loss in Pará, Mato Grosso, Maranhão and Rondônia states.