IPAM (Amazon Environmental Research Institute) prepared a new study to contain legal deforestation in Brazil. The idea is to remunerate the productive sector to keep the 9 million hectares of the Legal Amazon intact. The area is equivalent to the size of the State of Santa Catarina.
e features three scalable business models.
The study is the result of the experience with CONSERV, which, between 2021 and
2024, guaranteed the conservation of 20,707 hectares of native vegetation in the Amazon and the
Brazilian Cerrado.
For four years, landowners received an annual payment,
proportional to the hectare of native vegetation voluntarily preserved (i.e. above the
required by the Brazilian Forest Code).
With the discoveries and learning, a conceptual framework was developed,
complemented by field-tested methodology, and a set of paths to
expansion by private investors and public managers.
Compensation models
The first model mentioned in the article is . In this case, Conserv would take advantage of the development of carbon markets to attract resources for
conservation.
Payments would be made in exchange for protecting or increasing stocks of
carbon in native vegetation. Buyers of carbon credits would pay for
greenhouse gas emissions avoided, whether through voluntary engagement or
compliance with regulatory policies.
The second model is related to the commodity sectors. The subsidy could take on the
form of pre-competitive financing by commodity traders who
seek to guarantee market access and reduce climate impacts; or financing
post-competitive pricing in the form of aggregate prices for agricultural products differentiated by
zero deforestation practices of Conserv producers.
Third and last, the sustainable credit model proposes to compensate participants in the
Conserv for the protection of its forests subject to legal deforestation, providing
access to loans on more favorable terms.
Facilitated access to would replace direct payments per hectare to
farmers. These investments would increase the farm’s overall profits in the long term,
reducing, at the same time, the pressure for future deforestation.
According to the authors, the combination of some or all of the proposed mechanisms can
create a flexible and resilient program, with the capacity to expand.
“It is necessary to end all types of deforestation, legal and illegal. If we do not expand the
range of resource offerings for conservation, through incentives, security
food supply on the planet could be compromised”, points out André Guimarães, executive director
from IPAM and one of the authors of the study.
According to IPAM, native vegetation is responsible for ecosystem services necessary for the system
agricultural, such as climate regulation. For each degree of increase in temperature, the
Soybean production could fall by 6%, while corn production could reduce by 8%. Furthermore, changes
in climate are associated with the occurrence of extreme events and the disruption of regimes
of rain, which results in losses to agricultural production.
