Open AccessStimulus for land grabbing and deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon
Author(s) -
Brenda Brito,
Paulo Barreto,
Amintas Brandão,
Sara Baima,
Pedro Henrique Gomes
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
environmental research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.37
H-Index - 124
ISSN - 1748-9326
DOI - 10.1088/1748-9326/ab1e24
Subject(s) - amazon rainforest , revenue , deforestation (computer science) , natural resource economics , business , land use , agricultural economics , hectare , geography , economics , finance , agriculture , ecology , archaeology , computer science , biology , programming language
We assessed the impact on the Brazilian Amazon of a 2017 land law that reinforces a mechanism for acquiring land rights historically linked to deforestation, since land grabbers clear the forest to signal land occupation and claim land rights. In particular, we assessed two significant potential impacts: (i) the loss of government revenue due to the sale of public land below market prices and (ii) the risk of future deforestation and associated CO 2 emissions in 19.6 million hectares allocated to expand land privatization. The short-term revenue loss ranges from U$ 5 to 8 billion for 8.6 million hectares; the future revenue loss ranges from U$ 16.7 to 23.8 billion for 19.6 million hectares; and between 1.1 and 1.6 million hectares would risk being deforested until 2027, which could emit 4.5–6.5 megatonnes of CO 2 . The Brazilian government should review the decision about this area allocation; prioritize land allocation for conservation and, if selling part of this area, charge market prices.