In July 2008, the Brazilian government began restricting credit extensions to Amazon farmers as a way to curb deforestation and promote sustainable forest use, through a resolution by the National Monetary Council. This resolution limited the extension of agricultural credits to producers registered in the Rural Property Certification Registry with an environmental permit or certificate of property.

Furthermore, the government is investing in sustainable production and extractive activities with the development of policies and directives for sustainable forest use (including the new paradigm establishing that forests must be maintained as forest environments and must remain of public ownership); development of management plans for Extractive Reserves; the creation of funds and credit lines for sustainable activities; and the establishment of agreements with economic sectors, among others.

In the Brazilian Amazon, ecosystem services from protected areas provide national and local benefits worth over 50% more than the returns to smallholder farming. They draw three times more money into the state economy than extensive cattle ranching would; the most likely alternative use for park lands according to the Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity, 2009.

Soybean production in the region was also limited to legalized areas. To reconcile economic development and socio-environmental conservation in the Amazon biome, the members of the Brazilian Association of the Vegetable Oil Climate Change and Industry (ABIOVE) and the Brazilian Association of Cereal Exporters (ANEC) committed to no longer commercialize any soybean originating from areas in the Amazon biome deforested in July 2006. This unprecedented initiative became known as “moratorium on soybean” and was originally intended to last two years, but has been renewed since with support from the Ministry of the Environment.

Climate Change and Biodiversity in Brazil 13 This initiative supports the responsible and sustainable use of Brazilian natural resources and, since its onset, the sector has been working with NGOs to develop and implement a governance structure with operating rules for the Amazon biome and to demand from the government the definition, application and compliance of public policies on land use in the region (ecological-economic zoning). The initiative monitors soybean production in the Amazon biome with satellite images.

05 December 2011