| 1. |
- Freitas, Flavio L. M., et al.
(författare)
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Legal protection over the Brazilian carbon stocks
- 2018
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Brazilian native vegetation stands as one of the largest global carbon storages. Here is also where most of the emissions related to land use change take place, mostly driven by agricultural expansion. Policies of incentives and support to avoid deforestation are expected to play a significant role to improve the effectiveness of the prevailing command and control regulation and expand the protection of carbon stocks in the native vegetation. However, the limited available resources require wise targeting policies that maximise the outcomes regarding carbon protection. In this study, we conducted a quantitative assessment of the effect of command and control regulations in the protection of above-ground carbon (AGC) stocks employing a land use policy assessment (LUPA) model. The model enabled the construction of a land tenure dataset of national coverage and modelled the effects of the major pieces of land use legislation in the protection of AGC stocks. The outcomes suggest that roughly 70% of the AGC stock in Brazil is protected and additional 20% is expected to be protected after the tenure regularisation process of undesignated land. Private territory sustains about 30% of the AGC stocks, half within small or medium sized private properties which represent 98% of the Brazilian landholders and the other half in the 2% larger properties. Roughly 20% of the AGC in private land is under command and control protection, and the remaining 10% is unprotected. We argued that targeting policy may prioritise the unprotected AGC stocks; however, different biomes may require different policy settings considering the specificity of each biome.
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| 2. |
- Freitas, Flavio L. M., 1986-, et al.
(författare)
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Recent political development threaten terrestrial mammal diversity in Brazil
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Recent political developments may weaken the legal protection of native vegetation in Brazil, which holds large areas of high biodiversity value. We assess the extent to which legislation protects terrestrial mammal species in Brazil. To this end, we quantify the natural population of mammal species in each fragment of native vegetation and relating this quantification to relevant legislation. We also assess the urgency of interventions to improve the protection of the mammal species. The results indicate that the legislation concerning private and public lands protects at least 40%, and about one-third, of the habitats where half of the threatened mammal species live, respectively. In scenarios of full compliance with relevant legislation, at least 40% of habitats supporting about one-third of these species are unprotected or undesignated lacking command and control regulations protecting the native vegetation. The implications of these results are discussed in light of recent policy developments in Brazil.
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| 3. |
- Freitas, Flavio L. M., 1986-, et al.
(författare)
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TECHNICAL NOTE: LAND TENURE MAP OF BRAZIL
- 2017
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Annan publikationabstract
- The land tenure map of Brazil is the result of a collaborative effort between Imaflora, ESALQ/USP’s GeoLab and the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH, Sweden). This georeferenced database covers the entire Brazilian territory, offering an open and public picture of all public and private land holdings in Brazil.This land tenure map is an update on previous studies conducted by Professor Gerd Sparovek's team - ESALQ/USP’s GeoLab - (Freitas, Sparovek e Matsumoto, 2016; Sparovek et al., 2010, 2012, 2015) and includes new functionalities and the coding of a routine that allows for the continuous updating of this database developed by Imaflora and KTH-Sweden teams.
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| 4. |
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| 5. |
- Freitas, Flavio L M, et al.
(författare)
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Who owns the Brazilian carbon?
- 2018
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Ingår i: Global Change Biology. - : Wiley. - 1365-2486 .- 1354-1013. ; 24:5, s. 2129-2142
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Brazil is one of the major contributors to land-use change emissions, mostly driven by agricultural expansion for food, feed and bioenergy feedstock. Policies to avoid deforestation related to private commitments, economic incentives, and other support schemes are expected to improve the effectiveness of current command and control mechanisms increasingly. However, until recently, land tenure was unknown for much of the Brazilian territory, which has undermined the governance of native vegetation and challenged support and incentive mechanisms for avoiding deforestation. We assess the total extent of public governance mechanisms protecting aboveground carbon (AGC) stocks. We constructed a land tenure dataset for the entire nation and modeled the effects and uncertainties of major land-use acts on protecting AGC stocks. Roughly 70% of the AGC stock in Brazil is estimated to be under legal protection, and an additional 20% is expected to be protected after areas in the Amazon with currently undesignated land undergo a tenure regularization. About 30% of the AGC stock is on private land, of which roughly two-thirds are protected. The Cerrado, Amazon and Caatinga biomes hold about 40%, 30% and 20% of the unprotected AGC, respectively. Effective conservation of protected and unprotected carbon will depend on successful implementation of the Forest Act, and regularization of land tenure in the Amazon. Policy development that prioritizes unprotected AGC stocks is warranted to promote conservation of native vegetation beyond the legal requirements. However, different biomes and land tenure structures may require different policy settings considering local and regional specifics. Finally, the fate of current AGC stocks relies upon effective implementation of command and control mechanisms, considering that unprotected AGC in native vegetation on private land only accounts for 6.5% of the total AGC stock.
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| 6. |
- Sparovek, Gerd, 1962, et al.
(författare)
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Asymmetries of cattle and crop productivity and efficiency during Brazil's agricultural expansion from 1975 to 2006
- 2018
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Ingår i: Elementa. - : University of California Press. - 2325-1026. ; 6
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Brazil has global importance for food production and conservation of natural resources. The country has plans to increase yields and commitments to decrease deforestation that require higher productivity. Plans and policies for the growth of Brazilian agriculture, however, have been made without an integrated analysis of the harvest and not supported by a universal metric regarding its efficiency. Applying methods to model flows of energy and matter along food supply chains for agricultural production from 1975 to 2006, we found that crop and cattle harvests and their productivity have increased during the last four decades in consolidated and deforestation frontier regions. Yet in 2006, crop protein production was 20 times larger than cattle protein, using an area 2.6 times smaller than pastures. Crop protein productivity was 0.25 ton.ha(-1) with emissions of 2 ton GHG per ton of protein, while cattle productivity was 0.01 ton.ha(-1) with emissions of 283 ton GHG per ton of protein. From 1975 to 2006, the portion of crop protein and energy going to feed increased while the portion going to direct human consumption decreased. Our findings suggest that more efficient food systems would be achieved by a combination of intensification of cattle systems, optimization of feed-meat systems and an increase in the share of the consumption of crops as a source of protein. We suggest an initial road map to the expansion of the cultivated area and intensification of agriculture for zero deforestation, efficient and sustainable land use and food systems where cattle pasture intensification is a transition that will last until the expansion of crops replace all pasture present on suitable arable land. During this transition, pasture area will decrease until it is limited only to marginal non-arable lands. Such change could be achieved by a robust strategy that combines penalties and incentives and prevents the risks of a rebound effect for the intensification of agriculture.
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