AVOIDED DEFORESTATION

ON SMALLHOLDER FARMS IN THE

BRAZILIAN AMAZON

IPAMs Team: Paulo Moutinho, Osvaldo Stella, Lucimar Souza, Erika

Pinto, Galdino Xavier, Ricardo Rettmann, Simone Mazer, Ane

Alencar, Isabel Castro and Edimilson Souza

Lucimar Souza

lucimarsouza@ipam.org.br

Rome, 2011

Lucimar Souza

lucimarsouza@ipam.org.br

I was born in a small farmer in the Amazon

I took Psychology at Federal University of Pará

Started working at IPAM as a trainer in a fire management

project

I took Master´s degree at University of Florida in the Tropical

Conservation and Development Program

BACKGROUND OF THE PROJECT

THE DESIGN OF THIS PROJECT RESULTS FROM THE EXPERIENCE GAINED UNDER A BRAZILIAN GOVERNMENTAL PROGRAM CALLED

PROAMBIENTE.

PROAMBIENTE RESULTED FROM A LARGE DEMANDA FROM SOCIAL MOVEMENTS THAT CALLED, SINCE 2000, FOR RECOGNITION OF THE

IMPORTANCE OF PROMOTING SMALL AND FAMILY-BASED PRODUCTION ASSOCI¬ATED WITH SOCIAL INCLUSION , ENVIRONMENTAL

CONSERVATION, AND THE VALUING OF ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES PROVIDED BY SMALLHOLDERS.

PROAMBIENTE BECAME A PUBLIC POLICY OF BRAZILIAN FEDERAL

GOVERNMENT IN 2004 WITH THE TECHNICAL SUPPORT OF IPAM AND FVPP.

IT WAS NOT EFFECTIVELY IMPLEMENTED DUE TO THE LACK OF A LEGAL FRAMEWORK IN BRAZIL THAT RECOGNIZES ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES,

THEIR VALUATION OR PAYMENT, AMONG OTHER REASONS

AREA MUNICIPALITIES:

32,092 Kkm2

AREA = 31,745 ha

350 SMALLHOLDERS

PROPERTIES – AVERAGE

AREA = 90,7 ha:

55% STANDING FORESTS

30% PASTURE

9% SECONDARY FORESTS

4% PERENNIAL CROPS OR

AGROFORESTRY SYSTEMS

2% ANNUAL CROPS

ANNUAL DEFORESTATION

RATES: 4,8%

CARBON STOCKS = 126

tC/ha

TOTAL ANNUAL

EMISSIONS DUE TO

DEFORESTATION:

387,4 MtCO2

MUNICIPALITIES: ANAPU, PACAJÁ AND SENADOR JOSÉ PORFÍRIO (PARA STATE, BRAZIL)

Considering the Methods used in the

project…

The following steps were considered extremely

important to compose the landscape-based

approach to mitigation of GHG involving

smallholders of Amazon by IPAM team and

partners

1) Involvement of key-actors

several meeting involving local smallholders,

leaderships and grassroots organizations in order to

raise awareness about the relationship between regional

vulnerability to climate change potential impacts,

drivers of deforestation and low-emission alternative

production systems.

The key stakeholders demanded support from IPAM to

access financial incentives that make feasible to reduce

deforestation, while promoting a new model of rural

development. Thus, IPAM initiated a study on the

regional potential for avoided deforestation with direct

participation of the smallholders’ leaderships.

2) Data survey:

Data collection in the field covered 304 from the 350

families in 2007. In these visits IPAM’s technicians,

with support from rural leaderships, updated the Plans

of Use of Rural Proprieties that were first developed

in 2005 as a requirement for the participation of

families in the program PROAMBIENTE The

diagnosis of the properties situation allowed analyzes

on the following: profile of land use of properties,

socioeconomic profile of producers, agricultural

production and profitability, and perspective of

producers in relation to the properties productivity

at medium and long-term.

Use Plan of a Rural Propriety

Current Productive System

(diagnosis)

Productive System after

the project (future view)

Use Plan

3) Baseline of deforestation:

To characterize the dynamics of deforestation in

the region and calculate the baseline scenarios

for deforestation, satellite images made available

online by the Brazilian National Institute for

Space Research (INPE) from 1998 to 2008 were

used (INPE, 2009). A historic deforestation rate

of 4.8% per year was estimated for the region of

the project’s implementation and used as a

baseline.

4) Carbon stocks:

The models and studies developed to estimate

the biomass and carbon stocks in the Amazon

biome (Saatchi et al. 2007, Soares-Filho et al.

2006, Fearnside et al. 1997) attribute values that

vary from 60 to more than 200 tons of carbon

per hectare. For regional scale projects, more

precise analysis can be made based on local

characteristics. Thus, a model for the specific

focus region was generated counting the average

amount of carbon per hectare, based on Saatchi

et al. (2007).

4) Carbon stocks:

This model indicates an average stock of 126

tons of carbon per hectare for the project forest

area;

a stock ranging from 30 tons for agroforestry;

and

6 tons for pasture.

Currently we in partnership with Federal

University are carrying a research to verify the

contribution of SAFS based in cacao production

5) Sustainability:

The project is especially focused on:

promoting changes in land-use patterns, which

are based on slash-and-burn agriculture and

extensive pasture.

The goal is to reduce deforestation through:

increasing the productivity and profitability of

the areas already cleared with adoption of new

technologies;

5) Sustainability:

developing forest management plans;

strengthening local supply chains, cooperatives

and associations, and

addressing land tenure regularization-related

issues (partnership with INCRA – National

Institute for Colonization and Agrarian

Reform).

6) Compensating efforts for reducing

deforestation

the project aims the establishment of a payment

for avoided deforestation to the 350 families

initially involved in the program Proambiente

and that have historically promoted efforts to

adopt sustainable production practices.

6) Compensating efforts for reducing

deforestation

Such compensation for maintaining the forest

standing was based on opportunity costs, which

was defined in the project as a value that can be

generated with productive activities, considering

that most of the income the producer obtains in

their plots comes from animal grazing and slash-

and-burn agriculture, which (then) the

communities gave up in order to keep the forests

standing.

6) Compensating efforts for reducing

deforestation

Thus, the choice of not deforesting at the

beginning of the project, while alternative

practices are still under establishment, should be

at least as economically attractive as the

conventional land uses (historically the largest

drivers of deforestation in small rural

properties).

7) Monitoring:

High resolution Spot Images will be used for

evaluating the lost and recovery of carbon stocks

through the monitoring of deforestation and the

rate of forest regeneration of 350 smallholders

proprieties. It will allow mapping the

individual properties land use in order to

evaluate the accomplishment of the negotiated

Plans of Use of Rural Proprieties.

7) Monitoring:

Also, a comprehensive database of the Plans of

Use of Rural Proprieties will be built to

facilitate the evaluation of negotiated individual

deforestation reduction and recovery targets;

provide a diagnostic of the individual properties

zones and legal reserves to identify the level of

legislation compliance; and evaluate the carbon

stock enhancement through agroforestry

systems and regrowth.

7) Monitoring:

The Spot images will be used to generate high

definition land use maps which will be the

main source of validation and monitoring of the

properties.

Part of the Use Plans of Rural Proprieties

information, as well as GPS points collected in

the field, will be used to train the classifier, while

the remaining part of the Use Plans information

will be used to validate the accuracy of the

classification.

7) Monitoring:

This classification routine will be done for every

period of the project, making possible the

monitoring of the project indicators

implementation such as carbon losses by

deforestation and carbon sink due to regrowth.

A database using geographic information system

(GIS) will allow analysis of the individual

properties’ legal reserves integrity, including the

permanent protected area (APP), as well as the

evolution of their low carbon land use

practices.

7) Monitoring:

CIFOR is carrying an independent monitoring

research in the project also.

8) Regional strategy – increasing the scale

of the project

the original proposal involving 350 families of

Transamazônica region has been redesigned and

submitted to the Amazon Fund.

The goal is to create a methodology to promote

socio-economic and environmental

improvements in agrarian reform settlements of

Amazon, ensuring its sustainability in the long

term, under a new development model based on

low carbon emissions.

8) Regional strategy – increasing the scale

of the project

For that, besides the 350 families involved in the

project initially, will also be included in a

regional strategy in partnership with the

INCRA, 21 settlements in three regions of the

State of Para (Transamazônica, BR 163 and

Lower Amazon region).

These settlements totaling an area of 514,158

hectares, comprising 5,720 families.

The project did not start. The plan is to have it

aproved by Amazon Fund this end of year and

start it in the beginning of 2012.

There are many points still to be decided, and

we are looking and building partnership to cover

all the points.

Thank you very much!