Study by Embrapa - Amazonia

A study by Embrapa Monitoramento por Satélite (EMS) shows that Brazil is one of the countries that have most preserved their forests

Data that the then Minister of Agriculture, Luis Carlos Guedes, had announced at the opening ceremony of BioFach América Latina/ExpoSustentat 2006, in São Paulo, have now been officially published by Embrapa (Brazilian Agricultural Research Co.).

Of all the countries in the world, Brazil is the one that has cut down least of its forests. This is the main conclusion reached by a study ordered by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock Breeding and Supply from Embrapa Monitoramento por Satélite (EMS) – Embrapa’s satellite monitoring arm – and widely published by the press at the beginning of the year.

*Click here to listen Minister Guedes speech at the opening ceremony of BioFach América Latina 2006*

8,000 years ago, before the demographic and technological expansion, when there were 64 million sq. km of forests, Brazil had 9.8% of the world’s forests. Today, what is left is a total of 15.5 million sq. km. Over 75% of the world’s forests have disappeared, and of what little is left, Brazil alone accounts for 28.3% of the total.

The study by EMS relates these data to those of other regions. According to this survey, Europe (excluding Russia) used to have over 7% of all the forests on the planet, and today it accounts for only 0.1%. Africa had almost 11% and now has 3.4%. Asia once had 23.6% – almost a quarter – of the world’s forests, but it now holds 5.5% and carries on deforesting. On the other hand, South America, which had 18.2% of the world’s forests, now has 41.4% – and the country that is largely responsible for this remaining fraction is Brazil.

Evaristo de Miranda, the General Head of EMS, is one of the authors of the study, together with researchers of the Unit and the former Minister of Agriculture, Luiz Carlos Guedes Pinto. Miranda stresses that this trend does not belong to the past alone, and that if world deforestation carries on at the present rate, in the future Brazil is likely to hold almost half the primary forests on the planet. The paradox, as Guedes has repeatedly declared, is that “instead of being recognized for its historical maintenance of the forest coverage, the country has been severely criticized by the champion deforesters, its own history being ignored”.

The survey shows that, despite the deforestation that has taken place in the last 30 years, Brazil is one of the countries that most maintain their forest cover, with 69.4% of its original forests. Out of 100% of their original forests, Africa maintains today 7.8%, and Asia 5.6%, Central America 9.7% and Europe only 0.3%. South America maintains 54.8% of its original forests. "Although one should acknowledge the efforts to replant forests, one cannot ignore the fact that 99.7% of Europe’s primary forests were replaced by cities, cultivated land and commercial plantations", completes Evaristo de Miranda.

EMS researchers Cristina Criscuolo, of the geo-processing area, and Cristina Rodrigues, an expert in vegetable biology, were responsible for a broad bibliographic review in order to obtain the existing databases concerning the forests in all continents. The preliminary results have already started being released and the data are being given geographical references, using satellite images. "Based on this work, it is possible to map the remainder, enabling estimates of primary forests throughout the world to be made", explains Cristina Rodrigues.

Evaristo de Miranda stresses that, as part of this study, it would be possible to calculate what the emission of gases caused by this worldwide deforestation represented in terms of greenhouse effect. "No other country has maintained its forests like Brazil, and even so they demand a lot of this country". To him, the fact that Brazil has kept a good part of its forests, when compared to other countries, does not justify the willful cutting down of any tree. "We don’t mean that if they destroyed their forests we are entitled to do the same; but when they demand that Brazil should protect its forests, we should also insist that they replant the forests they destroyed", Miranda summed up.

Another study by EMS, which is expected to be published soon, has been going on for over 20 years in the municipality of Machadinho D'Oeste, State of Roraima, and has reached the conclusion that forest reserves surrounded by farming areas have been maintained until now by the farmers themselves. "There is a huge field of work that consists of seeking alternative projects leading to the preservation of forest areas within rural areas, either by means of the institution of Legal Reserves or by any other means", stresses Miranda.


Embrapa's excellent work may be accessed at the Website http://www.desmatamento.cnpm.embrapa.br