Deforestation down in continuous portion of Atlantic forest in 2023

Deforestation rates in the Atlantic forest fell in the continuous area of the biome, but increased in isolated fragments and transition areas from 2022 to 2023.

The statistics were released Tuesday (May 21) by the SOS Mata Atlântica Foundation, with data based on the Atlantic Forest Atlas and the Atlantic Forest Deforestation Alert System (SAD).

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“Deforestation is down in this continuous region of the Atlantic forest, from Rio Grande do Sul to Rio Grande do Norte, where forests are mature. And it went up in the enclaves and transitions with the other biomes, particularly the cerrado and the caatinga, and also where forests are young,” said SOS Mata Atlântica’s executive director, agronomist Luís Fernando Guedes Pinto.

The figures may seem conflicting, he pointed out, but “this has to do with the enforcement of the Atlantic Forest Law, which protects all native vegetation across this biome. However, the piece of legislation has come under fire. It hasn’t been rigorously enforced in the transition areas and enclaves.”

In addition to the large continuous area between Rio Grande do Norte and Rio Grande do Sul, the Atlantic forest has transition regions and enclaves in the states of Ceará, Piauí, Goiás, Bahia, Minas Gerais, and Mato Grosso do Sul. “Under the law, deforestation is only allowed in cases of social interest and public utility. And we see that most deforestation—more than 90 percent—stems from agricultural expansion, and that doesn’t justify social interest or public utility.”

The reduction in deforestation in the continuous portion of the biome is seen as a sign that conservation policies and close monitoring are yielding positive results. However, the transition regions with the caatinga and the cerrado require special attention.

“In the caatinga, these are areas at risk of desertification. In the cerrado, deforestation is particularly relevant for water protection, as a large number of key springs are located in this transition. This limits efforts aimed at climate regulation, water availability, and agricultural production,” he argued, adding that cities in these regions could become even more susceptible to extreme weather events—including extreme rainfall and drought.

Figures

According to the Atlantic Forest Atlas, prepared by SOS Mata Atlântica and the National Institute for Space Research (INPE), total deforestation in the biome fell from 20,075 hectares in 2022 to 14,697 in 2023—down 27 percent. The organization points out that these numbers, however, offer only a partial view of the landscape, as the survey monitors areas of more than three hectares of mature forest, which corresponds to 12.4 percent of the biome’s area.

The Atlas shows lower deforestation levels in most of the 17 states in the Atlantic forest area, with the exception of Piauí, Ceará, Mato Grosso do Sul, and Pernambuco. Minas Gerais, Paraná, and Santa Catarina had the best results, with drops of 57, 78, and 86 percent respectively. The same trend was noted regarding the continuous forest.

The Atlantic forest also includes recovering regions and areas in early development. These plus the enclaves raise the vegetation coverage to 24 percent of the biome’s area. In addition to being able to monitor all this existing vegetation, the alert system can detect land clearings as small as 0.3 hectares.

Despite the information in the Atlas, the alert system reports that total deforestation actually increased from 74,556 to 81,356 hectares from 2022 to 2023—the equivalent of over 200 football fields deforested every day. The figures are alarming.

The discrepancy, the agronomist pointed out, results mainly from the surge in clearing in cerrado and caatinga enclaves—mainly in Bahia, Piauí, and Mato Grosso do Sul. This loss has mostly occurred in areas of agricultural expansion. He questions the point of having so much agricultural land if the country is unable to protect the ecosystems that sustain production.

Less forest, more impacts

“Less forest means more natural disasters, epidemics, and inequality. For agriculture, it also means recurrent crop failures,” Guedes Pinto said. He believes that, until an integrated approach is adopted for all biomes, both to stop deforestation and to prioritize forest restoration, the crisis facing the climate and biodiversity will continue to intensify.

As deforestation declines, so do greenhouse gas emissions. Restoration removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. “To achieve the goal set in the Paris Agreement of warming the planet by only 1.5ºC by the end of the 21st century, we need to stop releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, and we also need to remove carbon dioxide. The cheapest and most efficient way to achieve this is by planting forests.”

Restoring the biome also plays an important role in adapting to the new climate conditions. “The planet’s climate is already changing, and the more forest we have, the better prepared we will be to adapt to extreme events and avoid heatwaves. Forests improve the thermal comfort and the balance in cities.”

The specialist noted that the situation is also worrying near the pampa, in South Brazil. “Half of Rio Grande do Sul is occupied by Atlantic forest, from the center to the north. The disasters and floods happened in both biomes. All the water that reaches [state capital] Porto Alegre comes from the hills and mountains of the state, which are entirely made up of Atlantic forest,” he remarked.

Atlas figures show that only 10 percent of the original Atlantic forest remains in Rio Grande do Sul. “If we had forests protecting the rivers, the springs, the riverbanks, and the hills, the tragedy would probably have had a much smaller impact. Deforestation amplifies the effect of this rain and the potential of this tragedy, and decreases the resilience [of cities]. The more nature and forests, the greater the capacity to resist and minimize the impacts, and also to recover after the event,” he stated.