LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Deforestation: Brazilian Amazonia
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Of great concern is the rate at which deforestation is occurring. Currently, 12 million hectares of forests are cleared annually - an area 1,3 times the size of KwaZulu/Natal! Almost all of this deforestation occurs in the moist forests and open woodlands of the tropics. At this rate all moist tropical forest could be lost by the year 2050, except for isolated areas in Amazonia, the Zaire basin, as well as a few protected areas within reserves and parks. Some countries such as Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Costa Rica, and Sri Lanka are likely to lose all their tropical forests by the year 2010 if no conservation steps are taken.
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The rapid growth of secondary succession complicates deforestation estimates with satellite imagery. By about age 25 years the secondary growth takes on spectral and structural qualities of a primary forest canopy. Extensive areas of old secondary growth are found in the eastern Amazonian states of Para, Tocantins, and Maranhao. Secondary growth in Amazonia lacks the species diversity of primary forest. Simply classifying forest and non-forest in deforestation estimates understates the problem. The INPE estimates that old secondary growth covers 97,000 square kilometers of Amazonia.
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[F]ar the principal measures that have been used to limit deforestation are creation of reserves and repression by fining those who clear without required authorizations. These are the measures that agencies such as the Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) are empowered to implement. However, the better-funded government agencies such as the Ministry of Transportation continue to plan and build roads and other infrastructure projects without regard for impact on deforestation. While the environmental licensing process for infrastructure projects may lead to compensatory actions, such as creation of reserves and funding of programs for monitoring and enforcement of regulations, the licensing has on many occasions shown itself to be incapable of stopping damaging projects and either diverting development efforts to less-damaging alternatives to achieve the same objectives or forcing a rethinking of the wisdom of the objectives themselves. Environmental impact studies (EIS) have only been required in Brazil since 1986 and the system is still subject to continual challenges and (often successful) attempts to build infrastructure with either no EIS (e.g., the proposed BR-319 Highway) or with an inadequate EIS that is effectively replaced with a package of parallel activities that escape from the legal requirement of serving as prerequisites for the infrastructure (e.g., the proposed BR-163 Highway). Building and improving highways is one of the principal ways that government decisions affect the deforestation process; the consequences of these decisions are much more far reaching than are the effects of any compensatory programs such as environmental education, promotion of agroforestry and the like.
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Influence of soy prices (CPI-adjusted, 12-month moving average) on deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. Deforestation in the states of Mato Grosso and Para has shown a particularly strong correlation to soy prices in recent years. All figures in hectares (2.47 acres).
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Wood, C., Sanderson, S. E. and Skole, D. Human dimensions of deforestation and regrowth in the Brazilian Amazon: Integrating data from satellites, demographic censuses and field surveys. From the Basic Science and Remote Sensing Initiative (BSRSI) website.
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Clearance for grazing has been a major cause of deforestation in Brazilian and Central American forests, with government-sponsored schemes to create large ranches. Regular woodland burning to maintain pasture is common in dryland Africa.
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Brazilian Amazonia