Mato Grosso Aims to Eliminate Illegal Deforestation in Five Years

12/08/2015 - 10h05

The government of the state of Mato Grosso unveiled in Paris on Monday (7) an ambitious plan to reduce carbon emissions, with the most eye-catching target being the elimination of illegal deforestation by 2020.

The objective is more ambitious than the Federal Government's proposal at COP21 of eliminating illegal deforestation by 2030. And it comes at a high cost: US$10 billion over 15 years.

"With public money alone we won't achieve it. We need the private sector involved," said state governor Pedro Taques.

Taques (PSDB) said that deforestation will fall in Mato Grosso even without private investment, though not as much as is hoped for. "Command and control [inspection] alone aren't enough," he said.

Mato Grosso had one of the highest rises in deforestation in 2014-15. In the Brazilian Amazon, deforestation increased by 16% (to 5831km2, more than three times the area of the city of São Paulo), while in Mato Grosso the increase was 40% (to 1508km2).

However, in the years prior to this increase, Mato Grosso had reduced deforestation from 11,000km2 a year to nearly 1000km2. Similar reductions have occurred all over the Amazon, where deforestation has fallen by nearly 80% in recent years.

Taques' plan, which was devised with the participation of NGOs and agribusiness associations, is not limited to deforestation. The general goal is to cut CO2 emissions in the state by 6 billion metric tons by 2030, the equivalent of four years of emissions from all sectors in the Brazilian economy.

In order to achieve this, not only will deforestation by reduced by 90% in the Amazon Rainforest and 95% in the Cerrado (Savanna), but also to offer compensation to landowners who do not deforest their legal allowance of 10,000km2, as well as recovering 20,000km2 of permanent conservation areas, the restoration of which is required by law.

Translated by TOM GATEHOUSE

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Lalo deAlmeida - 28.mar.2008

Helicopter used by the IBAMA ( Brazilian environment agency ) to locate deforestation flies over a devastated area in Mato Grosso