Neighborhood effects in the Brazilian Amazônia: Protected areas and deforestation

This article investigates whether protected areas are efficient instruments against deforestation in the Brazilian Amazônia. A Dynamic Spatial Durbin Model taking into account both the location bias and the spatial spillover effects between municipalities allows to assess the impact of the different types of protected areas (integral protected areas, sustainable protected areas and indigenous lands) on deforestation. We show that deforestation decisions are strategic complements. The econometric results differ according to the type of protected area. It is shown that: i) integral protected areas and indigenous lands allow for reducing deforestation; ii) sustainable use areas do not help to reduce deforestation; and iii) the spillover effects generated by integral protected areas and indigenous lands lead a reduction in deforestation in their vicinity. A 10% increase in the surface area of integral protected areas (indigenous lands) allows an estimated 9.32 sq. km (10.08 sq. km) of avoided deforestation.     

Impact of foot-and-mouth disease status on deforestation in Brazilian Amazon and cerrado municipalities between 2000 and 2010

Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon released approximately 5.7 billion tons of CO₂ to the atmosphere between 2000 and 2010, and 50–80% of this deforestation was for pasture. Most assume that increasing demand for cattle products produced in Brazil caused this deforestation, but the empirical work to-date on cattle documents only correlations between cattle herd size, pasture expansion, cattle prices, and deforestation. This paper uses panel data on deforestation and foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) status—an exogenous demand shifter—to estimate whether changes in FMD status caused new deforestation in municipalities in the Brazilian Amazon and cerrado biomes during the 2000–2010 period. Results suggest that, on average, becoming certified as FMD-free caused a temporary spike in deforestation in the 2 years after a municipality became FMD-free, but caused subsequent deforestation to decline relative to infected municipalities during the 2000–2010 period.     

SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL WATER QUALITY VARIABILITY IN THE PIRACICABA RIVER BASIN,BRAZIL1

ABSTRACT: The spatial and temporal variability of dissolved oxygen (DO), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), nitrate concentration and total coliform (TC) were investigated at nine sampling stations distributed along the main rivers of the Piracicaba River Basin, a 12,400 km² catchment located in São Paulo State, one of the most developed regions of Brazil. Spatially, a downstream impoverishment of water quality conditions was observed, as seen by the decrease of DO, and increase of BOD, nitrate, and TC. These changes were probably caused by accumulating downstream discharge of domestic and industrial sewage. Temporal evaluation of 18 years of data showed that DO decreased with time for the majority of the sampling stations, while BOD, nitrate, and TC increased. A law, approved at the end of 1991, proposed a new water tax for river water extraction for industrial and agricultural use. The amount of this tax is determined according to the water quality of the extracted water. Therefore, the evaluation of the water quality status in this basin is a first step to help resources managers to determine the values for this tax.     

Estimated heavy metal emissions to the atmosphere due to projected changes in the Brazilian energy generation matrix

An estimate of heavy metals emissions to the atmosphere due to the projected changes in the Brazilian energy generation fuel matrix is presented. Present use of fossil fuel combustion for energy production is projected to increase from the present 14.5% to 29.6% of the total energy generation in Brazil in 2005. Most of this increase will be based on coal- and natural-gas-burning plants. The changes will result in an increase of about 100% in the average emissions (in tons year⁻¹) of As (9.4 to 17.7), Cr (7.0 to 16.6) and Hg (2.4 to 4.1), 50% of Cd (1.2 to 1.8), and 20% of Ni (101 to 123) and Pb (23.3 to 29.9). Although relatively small for most heavy metals when compared to other industrial sources, the changes in the energy matrix will be particularly important for Hg, reaching a maximum emission of 12 tons (t) year⁻¹, representing 15% of the total emissions of Hg to the atmosphere in Brazil. The use of Brazilian coals and the location of most coal-burning plants in a relatively small region in the south of the country strongly suggest that monitoring programs should be implemented during the building of the new plants. At a regional level the expected increase in Hg emissions to the atmosphere due to coal burning in Brazil, although small relative to North America and Europe, will equal the total amount estimated for South and Central America.     

Social-environmental certification: Sustainable development and competitiveness in the mineral industry of the Brazilian Amazon

This article examines the relationship between increased metal mining and sustainable development in the eastern section of the Amazonian state of Pará in Brazil. Since the early 1980s, mining has grown rapidly in Pará and local mining operations have become global leaders in the production of iron, manganese, bauxite, aluminum, gold, copper and — in the near future — nickel. To stay in tune with global standards, these companies have committed themselves to the principles of sustainability and have obtained certification for both social and environmental aspects of their activities. The article looks into whether such certification is linked to sustainable development of the relatively poor regions where these companies operate. The main findings are that: (1) there is a visible association between certification and improved performance by the companies, but not with the development of nearby areas; and (2) social‐environmental certification processes place more emphasis on ecological variables than on social ones.     

Social features of energy production and use in Brazil: Goals for a sustainable energy future

This paper focuses on the social features of ene rgy production and use in Brazil and discusses the role of the energy policy goals of accessibility, affordability and acceptability in defining a sustainable energy future for the country. The major findings are that social inequalities in Brazil regarding energy use continue to be substantial and important. This can be explained by the fact that, although recent decades have seen significant improvements in energy accessibility all over the country, much more needs to be done to provide affordable, and socially acceptable modern energy carriers to all socio‐economic groups in all regions.     

Estimating the Relative Efficiency of Brazilian Publicly and Privately Owned Water Utilities: A Stochastic Cost Frontier Approach1

Abstract: This paper assesses cost efficiencies of Brazilian public and private companies of water supply. To measure the efficiency, we used a stochastic frontier model derived from the translog family – a specification similar to a Cobb‐Douglas including a quadratic term in log output. The model parameters are estimated by maximum likelihood using Brazilian data for the year 2002. Statistical inference leads to the conclusion that there is no evidence that private firms and public firms are significantly different in terms of efficiency measurements.     

Environmental, land-use and economic implications of Brazilian sugarcane expansion 1996–2006

Governments are promoting biofuels and the resulting changes in land use and crop reallocation to biofuels production have raised concerns about impacts on environment and food security. The promotion of biofuels has also been questioned based on suggested marginal contribution to greenhouse gas emissions reduction, partly due to induced land use change causing greenhouse gas emissions. This study reports how the expansion of sugarcane in Brazil during 1996–2006 affected indicators for environment, land use and economy. The results indicate that sugarcane expansion did not in general contribute to direct deforestation in the traditional agricultural region where most of the expansion took place. The amount of forests on farmland in this area is below the minimum stated in law and the situation did not change over the studied period. Sugarcane expansion resulted in a significant reduction of pastures and cattle heads and higher economic growth than in neighboring areas. It could not be established to what extent the discontinuation of cattle production induced expansion of pastures in other areas, possibly leading to indirect deforestation. However, the results indicate that a possible migration of the cattle production reached further than the neighboring of expansion regions. Occurring at much smaller rates, expansion of sugarcane in regions such as the Amazon and the Northeast region was related to direct deforestation and competition with food crops, and appear not to have induced economic growth. These regions are not expected to experience substantial increases of sugarcane in the near future, but mitigating measures are warranted.     

A System Dynamics Model for the Environmental Management of the Sepetiba Bay Watershed, Brazil

In the recent past, the Sepetiba Bay watershed, located in the Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil has experienced rapid industrial development and population growth, as well as an increase in water pollution and environmental degradation. To analyze the complex interrelationships among the agents affecting the Sepetibza Bay environment, a system dynamics model was developed. The model builds on extensive studies conducted for the watershed, and simulates different hypotheses of economic growth and of demographic expansion. Thus, it can be used as a decision support tool for the identification of investment priorities and policy analyses under various scenarios. In order to provide a comprehensive approach to the environmental management of the Sepetiba Bay watershed, the model had to consider only the most relevant aspects of the behavior and the key interactions among agents operating in the watershed. In this article, the model’s structure is presented together with some of its main results.     

Tiering strategic environmental assessment and project environmental impact assessment in highway planning in São Paulo, Brazil

Constructing highways in dense urban areas is always a challenge. In São Paulo Metropolitan Region, heavy truck traffic contributes to clog streets and expressways alike. As part of the traffic neither originates nor head to the region, a peripheral highway has been proposed to reduce traffic problems. This project, called Rodoanel, is an expressway approximately 175 km long. The fact that the projected south and north sections would cross catchments that supply most of the metropolis water demand was strongly disputed and made the environmental permitting process particularly difficult.The agency in charge commissioned a strategic environmental assessment (SEA) of a revamped project, and called it the Rodoanel Programme. However, the SEA report failed to satisfactorily take account of significant strategic issues. Among these, the highway potential effect of inducing urban sprawl over water protection zones is the most critical issue, as it emerged later as a hurdle to project licensing.Conclusion is that, particularly where no agreed-upon framework for SEA exists, when vertical tiering with downstream project EIA is sought, then a careful scoping of strategic issues is more than necessary. If an agreement on ‘what is strategic’ is not reached and not recognized by influential stakeholders, then the unsettled conflicts will be transferred to project EIA. In such a context, SEA will have added another loop to the usually long road to project approval.