Is deforestation rising or falling in the Amazon?
Rhett Butler, mongabay.comApril 18, 2010
Data from Imazon, an independent organization that aims to improve forest transparency through advanced analysis of satellite imagery and other tools, reveals a 23 percent increase during the period. Why does the data conflict?
Carlos Souza, a researcher with Imazon who was last week honored with the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship together with his colleague Beto Verissimo, attributes the discrepancy to "differences in estimates of deforestation in August and September last year when INPE's results were much higher than ours."
 Deforestation in August 2008 to February 2010 and degradation of September 2008 to February 2010 in the Brazilian Amazon (Source: Imazon / SAD; modified by mongabay.com). |
Intra-year estimates for deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon are notoriously difficult to assess due to cloud cover, distinctions between degradation and deforestation, seasonal variations, and other variables. Figures are usually reconciled each August using a different methodology. INPE generally publishes these results towards the end of the year.
But an uptick in deforestation would not be unsurprising given a 14 percent rise in beef prices during the period. The Amazon is a major cattle-producing region and much of Brazil's beef and leather is exported to Europe. The increase in beef prices during the period outpaced the appreciation of the Brazilian Real against the Euro, a development that would normally diminish beef exports from Brazil to Europe by making beef more expensive for European buyers.
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