Southern region sees 150% increase in deforestation in 2020

Data from the Annual Report on Deforestation in Brazil for Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul will be presented and debated in a webinar this Friday

The Annual Report on Deforestation in Brazil - 2020, produced using data from MapBiomas Alert, revealed a 150% increase in deforestation in the southern region of the country compared to the previous year. In 2020, 9,622 hectares were deforested in the states of Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul. In 2019, this figure was 3,846 hectares.

Deforestation in the south of the country, including the reasons for this detected increase - which may be related to a weakening of the environmental agenda - and policies to reverse this trend will be addressed this Friday (June 25) in an online event at 10am. The MapBiomas team and invited experts, including representatives from environmental agencies and the Public Prosecutor's Office, will present data and debate them and solutions.

Even though the region has the lowest total deforested area compared to other regions in the country, the increase from one year to the next reinforces the importance of monitoring and enforcement actions. Made up of the Atlantic Forest biome in the north and the Pampa biome in the south, the region already has high rates of native vegetation suppression.

Deforestation in the South is predominantly concentrated in the Atlantic Forest: 86% of the loss of native vegetation occurred in this biome, while the remaining 14% occurred in the Pampa. In this biome, grassland vegetation predominates. However, the current deforestation alert system is still unable to detect the suppression of this type of vegetation, so these figures still underestimate the real problem of native vegetation loss.

The peak area of deforestation in the South is concentrated in the second half of the year, mainly in September and October. In other words, it differs from what happens in Brazil as a whole, where the figures are influenced by the Amazon, with the highest rates of devastation recorded in the middle of the year. "It seems to be a characteristic of the southern region that the largest areas are deforested in the spring months, precisely when the summer harvest is being prepared," says Eduardo Vélez, coordinator of MapBiomas Alert's Pampa team.

For the second year running, the Annual Report on Deforestation in Brazil presents uniform and methodical data, making it possible to measure and compare the size of the problem, allowing for the monitoring and management of deforested areas in all of the country's biomes. "The data helps to understand the scenario and seek solutions, to build paths and deal with the challenges," says MapBiomas' institutional coordination coordinator, Magaly Oliveira.

Both the state environmental agencies and the Public Prosecutor's Office in the South are users of MapBiomas Alert data, using it in actions to combat illegal deforestation. In 2020, MapBiomas signed a Technical Cooperation Agreement with the National Council of Public Prosecutors (CNMP).

Highlights of the South region in the Annual Report on Deforestation in Brazil - 2020:

  • 1,504 alerts detected, validated and refined;
  • 9,622 hectares of deforestation (an increase of 150% compared to 2019);
  • All the states in the region recorded an increase in deforestation compared to the previous year;
  • Paraná was the state with the largest total deforested area: 5,710 hectares (59% of the total deforested in the South);
  • Rio Grande do Sul lost 2,165 hectares of native vegetation, which corresponds to 23% of the deforestation detected in the region;
  • In Santa Catarina, deforestation amounted to 1,747 hectares (18% of the region's deforestation). In 2019 there were 494 ha, an increase of 254%;
  • The municipality with the largest deforested area in Paraná was Nova Laranjeiras (631 ha); in Rio Grande do Sul, Piratini (187 ha); and in SC, Passos Maia (166 ha);
  • In 85% of deforestation alerts, the area was smaller than 10 ha (average of 6.4 ha), and the largest alert in the southern region in 2020 was 159 ha.

Access the full 2020 Annual Deforestation Report on the MapBiomas Alert.

Webinar South region
What the 2020 Annual Deforestation Report says about Brazil's southern states
Date: 25/06/2021(Friday)
Time: 10 a.m.
Live on youtube.com/mapbiomasbrasil

MapBiomas Communication
imprensa@mapbiomas.org
Liuca Yonaha – (11) 94186-4029