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Farm-scale distribution of deforestation and remaining forest cover in Mato Grosso

Nature Climate Change volume 6, pages 418–425 (2016)Cite this article

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Abstract

An analysis of data on property size and type as well as land use reveals the distribution of deforestation, remaining forest cover and carbon stocks in Mato Grosso, Brazil’s third largest state. Nearly two-thirds of remaining forests and carbon reserves, equating to between 2 and 3 Pg of carbon, are located on private properties. Around 80% of forests and carbon reserves are on properties larger than 1,000 ha, with smallholder farms and public land reform settlements controlling only a tiny fraction of the state’s remaining forest and carbon reserves. Efforts to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation must target owners controlling most of the remaining forest and land types with the highest deforestation rates. We thus suggest that policymakers seeking to protect the remaining forest should focus both incentives and enforcement of anti-deforestation laws in the larger properties where most of these forests are located.

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Figure 1: In Mato Grosso, most areas registered in the CAR database are larger than 1,000 ha.
Figure 2: Deforestation (2001–2012), by property size category.
Figure 3: Remaining forest cover, by property category: 2000 and 2012.
Figure 4: Total and percentage of total deforestation by property category.
Figure 5: Remaining forest cover in Mato Grosso, by property size category.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge the support of National Science Foundation Grant, Brazil’s New Green Revolution: Capital, Investment, and Agricultural Expansion, grant no. 1305489.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Population Studies and Training Center, Institute at Brown for Environment and Society, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912, USA

    Peter D. Richards

  2. Department of Sociology, Population Studies and Training Center, Institute at Brown for Environment and Society, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912, USA

    Leah VanWey

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Contributions

P.D.R. devised the study. P.D.R. and L.V. designed the experiments. P.D.R. conducted the experiments. P.D.R. and L.V. wrote the manuscript. All authors approved this manuscript.

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Correspondence to Peter D. Richards.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Richards, P., VanWey, L. Farm-scale distribution of deforestation and remaining forest cover in Mato Grosso. Nature Clim Change 6, 418–425 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2854

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