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August 4, 2005 -- In May, the government of Brazil released the most recent deforestation statistics. The numbers paint a bleak picture of the biologically rich Amazon forest: More than 10,000 square miles (2.6 million hectares) were cleared in 2004, an area the size of Belgium.
The deforestation was driven largely by Brazil's rapidly growing position as a world leader in soybean and beef production. Recognizing that agribusiness is in Brazil to stay, The Nature Conservancy is pioneering market-based incentives for the conservation of large landscapes.
The key to the project is Brazil's advanced environmental regulations. One of the most important of these regulations requires all private landowners in the Amazon to set aside 80 percent of their land as private reserves, putting only 20 percent of their property into production.
The challenge for conservationists is that this rule is rarely enforced, especially in remote areas. That's why The Nature Conservancy and partners are working to create economic incentives for farmers and ranchers to comply with the law. The project got a major boost earlier this year when — a key soy customer — announced that in a pilot region in the Brazilian Amazon the company will only buy soy from farmers who are either in compliance with the law or have legally agreed to become compliant.
"The only way to get compliance is if it is in the interest of producers," said David Cleary, head of conservation programs for South America. "Our idea, with the help of companies, is to tell producers: 'If you work with us you can get into the position to sell to Cargill.'"
Not stopping there, the Conservancy is also helping producers create preserves that are large, intact landscapes.
"Even if everyone preserves 80 percent of their land and farms 20 percent of it, you still have a fragmented landscape," Cleary said. The idea is to bring a group of producers together to cooperate in both farming and preserving land. The producers would farm a large block of land in an area that has already been fragmented. The farmed area would represent 20 percent of each producer’s property. The same producers would also combine their resources to put large swaths of biologically important land into private reserves. The total amount of protected land would represent 80 percent of each producer’s property.
The Nature Conservancy provides technical assistance to the producers, but does not help them buy the land. To date, the Conservancy is working with nearly 300 soy properties in the central Amazon covering about 386 square miles (100,000 hectares) to help them comply with environmental regulations. This could potentially generate up to 1,500 square miles (400,000 hectares) of compensatory private reserves, about the size of Rhode Island.
The project requires complex negotiations and it is still in the early stages. Nevertheless, Cleary said the first block of producers should be able to buy a “significant chunk of reserves” in about one year. After that, he expects other soy and beef producers to follow suit.
"Always lurking in the background is Cargill," he said. "Cargill is the only major soy buyer in this particular part of the Amazon. It's something that makes the soy producers sit up and take notice."
Nature picture credits (top to bottom, left to right): Photo © Benito Guerrero/TNC (soy plantation); Photo © Benito Guerrero/TNC (soy plant).
