Brazil Lost 7.6 Percent of Its Forests Between 2000 and 2018, Says IBGE

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – A survey published yesterday, March 26th, by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) shows that from 2000 to 2018, Brazil lost 7.6 percent of its forest vegetation.

The forested area, which was 4.02 million square kilometers (km²) in 2000, is now 3.71 million km², equivalent to 42.4 percent of the country’s territory. From 2016 to 2018, the loss was 0.2 percent.

The countryside vegetation, which includes the Cerrado (tropical savanna), Caatinga (semi-desert vegetation) and Pampas (lowlands), recorded an even greater loss of 10.1 percent in the 12-year period under review. From 2016 to 2018, the loss reached 0.7 percent.

Conversely, the agricultural area increased 44.8 percent from 2000 to 2018 and now accounts for 664,800 km2, or 7.6 percent of the national territory, considering the land and sea portion of the country.

According to IBGE researcher Fernando Peres, from 2000 to 2012, about 20 percent of the new agricultural areas resulted from the conversion of managed pastures, used in livestock. But as of 2012, that number rose to 53 percent.

“We have observed that the occupation dynamics, both in forest and cerrado areas, are following a pattern. First, there’s the removal of native vegetation, followed by the establishment of pastures and, after a few years, the establishment of agricultural areas”, explains Peres.

However, the study notes that the growth of agricultural areas has slowed down. If from 2012 to 2014, they grew seven percent, from 2016 to 2018, they advanced 3.3 percent.

From 2000 to 2018, managed pasture areas grew 27 percent and managed forestry areas grew 70 percent.