VZCZCXRO8196
OO RUEHAST RUEHDH RUEHHM RUEHLN RUEHMA RUEHPB RUEHPOD RUEHRG RUEHSL
RUEHTM RUEHTRO
DE RUEHBR #1408/01 3381752
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O R 041750Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY BRASILIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0015
INFO ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE
RUEHRG/AMCONSUL RECIFE 0009
RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO
RUEHSO/AMCONSUL SAO PAULO

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRASILIA 001408 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV KGHG KSCA EAGR BR
SUBJECT: BRAZIL ANNOUNCES LOWEST RATE OF DEFORESTATION OF AMAZON 
FOREST EVER RECORDED 
 
(U) THIS CABLE IS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED AND NOT FOR INTERNET 
DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY.  On November 12, Brazilian Environment Minister 
Carlos Minc announced Brazil's lowest ever Amazon deforestation 
rate since monitoring began in 1988.  A total of 7,008 square 
kilometers of forest were cleared, which represents a 45 percent 
drop from the previous annual period.  On the next day, President 
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva rolled out Brazil's position to be 
presented at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate 
Change (UNFCCC) meeting in Copenhagen in December 2009.  The heart 
of the Brazilian position is an 80 percent reduction in the rate of 
deforestation of the Amazon forest by 2020 compared with the 
1990-2005 average.  END SUMMARY 
 
 
 
LOWEST EVER DEFORESTATION RATE 
 
 
 
¶2.  (SBU) During an event at the Presidential office on November 
12, Environment Minister Carlos Minc announced Brazil's 
deforestation rate for the 2008/2009 period.  The 7,008 square 
kilometers (or 2,705 square miles) of Amazon forest that was 
cleared is the lowest quantity since the Government of Brazil (GOB) 
started monitoring deforestation in the region in 1988.  President 
Lula and the Head of the President's Office, Minister Dilma 
Rousseff, both of whom are going to Copenhagen, were present at the 
announcement. 
 
 
 
¶3.  (SBU) "The new deforestation data represents an extraordinary 
and significant reduction for Brazil", President Lula commented 
during the event.  Indeed the number represents a 45 percent 
decline when compared to the previous 2007/2008 period.  Another 
positive aspect is that all, except one, of the 36 municipalities 
with the highest deforestation rates last year reduced their rate 
of clearing this year.  The GOB had concentrated its law 
enforcement efforts on these 36 municipalities.  The Brazilian 
National Space Research Institute (INPE), which provided the 
analysis, noted that the current numbers are estimates and have a 
standard error of plus or minus 10 percent and that their final 
report for the 2008/2009 year will be released in March 2010.  The 
two states with the most deforestation were again Para and Mato 
Grosso with 3,687 and 1,047 square kilometers clearing and these 
numbers represent a 35 percent and a 68 percent drop for both 
states respectively. 
 
 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Minister Minc claimed that the GOB's law enforcement 
actions and other efforts were responsible for 90 percent of this 
year's reduction.  Environment NGO community celebrated the 
decrease, though they pointed out that even though police efforts 
against illegal clearing has definitely improved, other factors 
were involved.  Most notably, there has been a decline in 
agriculture prices for beef and soy, which when high are considered 
major drivers behind deforestation. 
 
 
 
REDUCING AMAZON DEFORESTATION BY 80% BY 2020 
 
 
 
¶5.  (SBU) On the next day, President Lula announced Brazil's 
position to be presented at the United Nations Framework Convention 
on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Copenhagen.  The country's target 
refers to cuts in its economy-wide emissions in the magnitude of 
36.1 percent to 38.9 percent by the year 2020.  See REFTEL.  At the 
core of the Brazilian position, which envisions a total reduction 
of greenhouse gas emissions of up to 1.052 billion tons in 2020, is 
an 80 percent drop in the rate of deforestation of the Amazon 
forest by 2020 compared with the 1990-2005 average (19,500 square 
kilometers).  Such reduced deforestation would lower Brazil's 
greenhouse gas emissions by 564 million tons per year or about 53 
percent of the goal.  The GOB plans to incorporate this objective 
in its domestic National Climate Change Plan.  That plan must go to 
the Senate for approval. 
 
BRASILIA 00001408  002 OF 002 
 
 
THE CERRADO 
 
 
 
¶6.  (SBU) While the lion's share of Brazil's cuts in emissions are 
supposed to come from reducing deforestation in the Amazon, the 
second most important emission reduction measure is lowering the 
deforestation rate in the Cerrado by 40 percent by 2020.  This 
measure would reduce emissions by 104 million tons per year.  The 
Cerrado Biome covers parts of the center-west, southeast, north and 
northeast parts of Brazil.  It covers a total of 2 million square 
kilometers (NOTE:  The Amazon Forest covers 3.6 million square 
kilometers and approximately 20 percent of it, or 700,000 square 
kilometers, has been brought down.  END NOTE) and approximately 39 
percent of this area has already been deforested.  The average 
deforestation area for the last five years in the biome has been 
about 22,000 square kilometers, which represents three times more 
than the current deforestation area for the Amazon. 
 
 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Unlike the Amazon, there are no specific programs or 
policies to protect the Cerrado, which means that Brazil is 
essentially starting the protection of the biome from scratch. 
Moreover, recent independent studies and researches have concluded 
that the emissions from deforestation in the Cerrado may soon be 
several times greater than those of the Amazon. 
 
 
 
¶8.  COMMENT.  The latest Amazon deforestation numbers were lower 
than what the GOB had expected.  Brazilian officials had been 
working with a 9,000 square kilometers estimate for this time 
period.  The GOB deserves credit for making a major contribution to 
this reduction through its various law enforcement and protection 
measures.  These results come at a good time because they help give 
the GOB confidence that it can achieve the ambitious emissions 
reductions it plans to put on the table in Copenhagen.  END COMMENT 
 
 
 
 
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