Public Policy Strategies for Balancing Forest Conservation and Economic Development in the Brazilian Amazon: A Systematic Review

Authors

  • Tong Wu Qingdao Meteorological Bureau, Qingdao 266003, China.
  • Fujing Wan Qingdao Meteorological Bureau, Qingdao 266003, China.
  • Xianghan Zhang Key Laboratory of Meteorological and Ecological Environment of Hebei Province, Shijiazhuang 050021, China. Langfang Meteorological Bureau, Langfang 065099, China.
  • Han Jiao Qingdao Meteorological Bureau, Qingdao 266003, China.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.52152/2887

Keywords:

climate change, global warming, forest conservation, Brazilian Amazon

Abstract

The Amazon Forest is important to the planet regarding biodiversity and the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions. The Amazon region has developed by relying on the exploitation of natural resources, particularly deforestation, which has caused significant damage to biodiversity. To protect forests and reduce deforestation, the Amazon region needs to transition from its current development model to sustainable development.

This paper focuses on the Brazilian Amazon and uses a systematic literature review to assess the development strategies implemented from 2004 to 2022 to protect the Amazon Forest. The paper also reviews the potential achievements of the strategies implemented, the barriers that may be encountered and the possible future improvements. The main findings are that forest conservation strategies in the Brazilian Amazon comprise land use, policy, external investment, and other types of strategies. The biggest barriers to implementing these strategies at present are the absence of unambiguous policies. The lack of funds and the lack of awareness among local people are also serious problems. In the future, there is a need to provide clear policy support and reasonable funds for implementation of all the strategies, and to increase public participation in the forest conservation measures.

References

Alves de Oliveira, Beatriz Fátima, Marcus J. Bottino, Paulo Nobre, and Carlos A. Nobre. 2021. "Deforestation and climate change are projected to increase heat stress risk in the Brazilian Amazon." Communications Earth & Environment 2 (1):207. doi: 10.1038/s43247-021-00275-8.

Banerjee, Onil, and Janaki Alavalapati. 2009. "A computable general equilibrium analysis of forest concessions in Brazil." Forest Policy and Economics 11 (4):244-252. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forpol.2009.04.004.

Bauch, Simone, Erin Sills, Luiz Carlos Estraviz Rodriguez, Kathleen McGinley, and Frederick Cubbage. 2009. "Forest Policy Reform in Brazil." Journal of Forestry 107 (3):132-138. doi: 10.1093/jof/107.3.132.

Blanco-Gutiérrez, Irene, Rhys Manners, Consuelo Varela-Ortega, Ana M Tarquis, Lucieta G Martorano, and Marisol Toledo. 2020. "Examining the sustainability and development challenge in agricultural-forest frontiers of the Amazon Basin through the eyes of locals." Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences 20 (3):797-813.

Castro, Marcia C., Andres Baeza, Cláudia Torres Codeço, Zulma M. Cucunubá, Ana Paula Dal’Asta, Giulio A. De Leo, Andrew P. Dobson, Gabriel Carrasco-Escobar, Raquel Martins Lana, Rachel Lowe, Antonio Miguel Vieira Monteiro, Mercedes Pascual, and Mauricio Santos-Vega. 2019. "Development, environmental degradation, and disease spread in the Brazilian Amazon." PLOS Biology 17 (11):e3000526. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3000526.

Correa, Juliano, Elías Cisneros, Jan Börner, Alexander Pfaff, Marcelo Costa, and Raoni Rajão. 2020. "Evaluating REDD+ at subnational level: Amazon fund impacts in Alta Floresta, Brazil." Forest Policy and Economics 116:102178. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forpol.2020.102178.

Correa, Juliano, Richard van der Hoff, and Raoni Rajão. 2019. Amazon Fund 10 Years Later: Lessons from the World’s Largest REDD+ Program. Forests 10 (3). doi:10.3390/f10030272.

da Cruz, Denis Conrado, José Maria Rey Benayas, Gracialda Costa Ferreira, Sabrina Ribeiro Santos, and Gustavo Schwartz. 2021. "An overview of forest loss and restoration in the Brazilian Amazon." New Forests 52 (1):1-16. doi: 10.1007/s11056-020-09777-3.

Da Silva, JosÉ Maria Cardoso, Anthony B. Rylands, and Gustavo A. B. Da Fonseca. 2005. "The Fate of the Amazonian Areas of Endemism." Conservation Biology 19 (3):689-694. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2005.00705.x.

Denich, Manfred, Paul L. G. Vlek, Tatiana D. de Abreu Sá, Konrad Vielhauer, and Wolfgang Lücke. 2005. "A concept for the development of fire-free fallow management in the Eastern Amazon, Brazil." Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 110 (1):43-58. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2005.05.005.

Duchelle, Amy E., Marina Cromberg, Maria Fernanda Gebara, Raissa Guerra, Tadeu Melo, Anne Larson, Peter Cronkleton, Jan Börner, Erin Sills, Sven Wunder, Simone Bauch, Peter May, Galia Selaya, and William D. Sunderlin. 2014. "Linking Forest Tenure Reform, Environmental Compliance, and Incentives: Lessons from REDD+ Initiatives in the Brazilian Amazon." World Development 55:53-67. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2013.01.014.

Fearnside, Philip M. 2008. "The Roles and Movements of Actors in the Deforestation of Brazilian Amazonia." Ecology and Society 13 (1).

Finer, Matt, Clinton N. Jenkins, Stuart L. Pimm, Brian Keane, and Carl Ross. 2008. "Oil and Gas Projects in the Western Amazon: Threats to Wilderness, Biodiversity, and Indigenous Peoples. ." PLOS ONE 3 (8):e2932.

Garda, Adrian Antonio, José Maria Cardoso Da Silva, and Patrícia Carvalho Baião. 2010. "Biodiversity conservation and sustainable development in the Amazon." Systematics and Biodiversity 8 (2):169-175. doi: 10.1080/14772000.2010.484435.

Garrett, Rachael D., Federico Cammelli, Joice Ferreira, Samuel A. Levy, Judson Valentim, and Ima Vieira. 2021. "Forests and Sustainable Development in the Brazilian Amazon: History, Trends, and Future Prospects." Annual Review of Environment and Resources 46 (Volume 46, 2021):625-652. doi: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-environ-012220-010228.

Gibb, Herman, and Grace O’Leary Keri. 2014. "Mercury Exposure and Health Impacts among Individuals in the Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining Community: A Comprehensive Review." Environmental Health Perspectives 122 (7):667-672. doi: 10.1289/ehp.1307864.

Gil, J. D. B., R. Garrett, and T. Berger. 2016. "Determinants of crop-livestock integration in Brazil: Evidence from the household and regional levels." Land Use Policy 59:557-568. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2016.09.022.

Gunningham, Neil, and Darren Sinclair. 1999. "Regulatory pluralism: Designing policy mixes for environmental protection." Law & Policy 21:49-76.

Hampf, Anna C., Tommaso Stella, Michael Berg-Mohnicke, Tobias Kawohl, Markus Kilian, and Claas Nendel. 2020. "Future yields of double-cropping systems in the Southern Amazon, Brazil, under climate change and technological development." Agricultural Systems 177:102707. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2019.102707.

Heilmayr, Robert, Lisa L. Rausch, Jacob Munger, and Holly K. Gibbs. 2020. "Brazil’s Amazon Soy Moratorium reduced deforestation." Nature Food 1 (12):801-810. doi: 10.1038/s43016-020-00194-5.

IPCC. 2019. Climate Change and Land: an IPCC special report on climate change, desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food security, and greenhouse gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems. IPCC.

Jordan, Andrew, Rüdiger K. W. Wurzel, and Anthony Zito. 2005. "The Rise of ‘New’ Policy Instruments in Comparative Perspective: Has Governance Eclipsed Government?" Political Studies 53 (3):477-496. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9248.2005.00540.x.

Lima, Eirivelthon, Frank Merry, Daniel Nepstad, Gregory Amacher, Cláudia Azevedo-Ramos, Paul Lefebvre, and Felipe Resque. 2006. "Searching for Sustainability: Forest Policies, Smallholders, and the Trans - Amazon Highway." Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development 48 (1):26-38. doi: 10.3200/ENVT.48.1.26-38.

Malhi, Yadvinder, J. Timmons Roberts, Richard A. Betts, Timothy J. Killeen, Wenhong Li, and Carlos A. Nobre. 2008. "Climate Change, Deforestation, and the Fate of the Amazon." Science 319 (5860):169-172. doi: 10.1126/science.1146961.

Mendoza, Elsa, Stephen Perz, Marianne Schmink, and Daniel Nepstad. 2007. "Participatory Stakeholder Workshops to Mitigate Impacts of Road Paving in the Southwestern Amazon." Conservation and Society 5 (3).

Meyer, Christopher, and Dana Miller. 2015. "Zero Deforestation Zones: The Case for Linking Deforestation-Free Supply Chain Initiatives and Jurisdictional REDD+." Journal of Sustainable Forestry 34 (6-7):559-580. doi: 10.1080/10549811.2015.1036886.

Miguel Ayala, Laura, Michiel van Eupen, Guoping Zhang, Marta Pérez-Soba, Lucieta G. Martorano, Leila S. Lisboa, and Norma E. Beltrao. 2016. "Impact of agricultural expansion on water footprint in the Amazon under climate change scenarios." Science of The Total Environment 569-570:1159-1173. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.06.191.

Moutinho, Paulo, Raissa Guerra, and Claudia Azevedo-Ramos. 2016. "Achieving zero deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon: What is missing?" Elementa 4:000125.

Nepstad, Daniel, Claudia Azevedo-Ramos, and Eirivelthon Lima. 2005. "GOVERNING THE AMAZON TIMBER INDUSTRY FOR MAXIMUM SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS." Forests, Trees and Livelihoods 15 (2):183-192. doi: 10.1080/14728028.2005.9752519.

Nepstad, Daniel, David McGrath, Claudia Stickler, Ane Alencar, Andrea Azevedo, Briana Swette, Tathiana Bezerra, Maria DiGiano, João Shimada, Ronaldo Seroa da Motta, Eric Armijo, Leandro Castello, Paulo Brando, Matt C. Hansen, Max McGrath-Horn, Oswaldo Carvalho, and Laura Hess. 2014. "Slowing Amazon deforestation through public policy and interventions in beef and soy supply chains." Science 344 (6188):1118-1123. doi: 10.1126/science.1248525.

Nobre, Carlos A., Gilvan Sampaio, Laura S. Borma, Juan Carlos Castilla-Rubio, José S. Silva, and Manoel Cardoso. 2016. "Land-use and climate change risks in the Amazon and the need of a novel sustainable development paradigm." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 113 (39):10759-10768. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1605516113.

Oldekop, J. A., G. Holmes, W. E. Harris, and K. L. Evans. 2016. "A global assessment of the social and conservation outcomes of protected areas." Conservation Biology 30 (1):133-141. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.12568.

Overbeck, Gerhard E., Eduardo Vélez-Martin, Fabio R. Scarano, Thomas M. Lewinsohn, Carlos R. Fonseca, Sebastian T. Meyer, Sandra C. Müller, Paula Ceotto, Letícia Dadalt, Giselda Durigan, Gislene Ganade, Martin M. Gossner, Demetrio L. Guadagnin, Katrin Lorenzen, Claudia M. Jacobi, Wolfgang W. Weisser, and Valério D. Pillar. 2015. "Conservation in Brazil needs to include non-forest ecosystems." Diversity and Distributions 21 (12):1455-1460. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.12380.

Pereira, Joana C., and Eduardo Viola. 2020. "Close to a Tipping Point? The Amazon and the Challenge of Sustainable Development under Growing Climate Pressures." Journal of Latin American Studies 52 (3):467-494. doi: 10.1017/S0022216X20000577.

Peres, Carlos A., Thaise Emilio, Juliana Schietti, Sylvain J. M. Desmoulière, and Taal Levi. 2016. "Dispersal limitation induces long-term biomass collapse in overhunted Amazonian forests." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 113 (4):892-897. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1516525113.

Perz, Stephen G., Robert Walker, Marcellus Caldas, Eugenio Arima, and Carlos Souza. 2008. "Road Networks and Forest Fragmentation in the Amazon: Explanations for Local Differences with Implications for Conservation and Development." Journal of Latin American Geography 7 (2):85-104.

Pfaff, Alexander, Juan Robalino, Diego Herrera, and Catalina Sandoval. 2015. "Protected Areas’ Impacts on Brazilian Amazon Deforestation: Examining Conservation – Development Interactions to Inform Planning." PLOS ONE 10 (7):e0129460. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0129460.

Pokorny, Benno, Pablo Pacheco, Wil de Jong, and Steffen Karl Entenmann. 2021. "Forest frontiers out of control: The long-term effects of discourses, policies, and markets on conservation and development of the Brazilian Amazon." Ambio 50 (12):2199-2223. doi: 10.1007/s13280-021-01637-4.

Raftopoulos, Malayna, and Joanna Morley. 2020. "Ecocide in the Amazon: the contested politics of environmental rights in Brazil." The International Journal of Human Rights 24 (10):1616-1641. doi: 10.1080/13642987.2020.1746648.

Reydon, Bastiaan Philip, Vitor Bukvar Fernandes, and Tiago Santos Telles. 2020. "Land governance as a precondition for decreasing deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon." Land Use Policy 94:104313. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2019.104313.

Ribeiro, Jime Rodrigues, Claudia Azevedo-Ramos, and Ricardo Bruno Nascimento dos Santos. 2020. "Impact of forest concessions on local jobs in central amazon." Trees, Forests and People 2:100021. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tfp.2020.100021.

Sabo, Alexandra N., Marliz Arteaga, Andrea B. Chavez Michaelsen, Carolina O. Jordão, Sinomar Ferreira da Fonseca Junior, Vanessa Luna-Celino, Pamela Montero Alvarez, and Stephen Perz. 2022. "The wisdom of hindsight: a comparative analysis of timelines of environmental governance of infrastructure across the Pan-Amazon." Ecology and Society 27 (1). doi: 10.5751/ES-12683-270128.

Sánchez-Cuervo, Ana María, Letícia Santos de Lima, Francisco Dallmeier, Paola Garate, Adriana Bravo, and Hadrien Vanthomme. 2020. "Twenty years of land cover change in the southeastern Peruvian Amazon: implications for biodiversity conservation." Regional Environmental Change 20 (1):8. doi: 10.1007/s10113-020-01603-y.

Silveira, Júlia G., Sílvio N. Oliveira Neto, Ana C. Canto, Fernanda F. Leite, Fernanda R. Cordeiro, Luís T. Assad, Gabriela C. Silva, Renato D. Marques, Melissa S. Dalarme, Isabel G. Ferreira, Marcela C. Conceição, and Renato D. Rodrigues. 2022. Land Use, Land Cover Change and Sustainable Intensification of Agriculture and Livestock in the Amazon and the Atlantic Forest in Brazil. Sustainability 14 (5). doi:10.3390/su14052563.

Trancoso, Ralph. 2021. "Changing Amazon deforestation patterns: Urgent need to restore command and control policies and market interventions." Environmental Research Letters 16 (4):041004.

Vuohelainen, Anni Johanna, Lauren Coad, Toby R. Marthews, Yadvinder Malhi, and Timothy J. Killeen. 2012. "The Effectiveness of Contrasting Protected Areas in Preventing Deforestation in Madre de Dios, Peru." Environmental Management 50 (4):645-663. doi: 10.1007/s00267-012-9901-y.

Zemp, D. C., C. F. Schleussner, H. M. J. Barbosa, and A. Rammig. 2017. "Deforestation effects on Amazon forest resilience." Geophysical Research Letters 44 (12):6182-6190. doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL072955.

Published

2025-08-01

Issue

Section

Article

How to Cite

Public Policy Strategies for Balancing Forest Conservation and Economic Development in the Brazilian Amazon: A Systematic Review. (2025). Lex Localis - Journal of Local Self-Government, 23(4). https://doi.org/10.52152/2887