Forests Sourcebook - HCV Resource Network

Box 7.4
Monitoring Efforts in Brazil
Three significant monitoring efforts are occurring in
Brazil: the Brazilian Space Agency project PRODES,
the Amazon Surveillance System (SIVAM-SIPAM), and
the government of the state of Mato Grosso’s Environmental
Control System on Rural Properties.
PRODES
Since the 1980s, the PRODES project has been monitoring
the extent of gross and annual deforestation in
the Brazilian Amazon based on interpretation of highresolution
satellite imagery (Landsat). Although highly
automated, the deforestation mapping remains a
labor-intensive process in which, each year, more than
220 satellite scenes are scanned, selected for minimum
cloud coverage, geo-referenced, and prepared to run a
predefined algorithm for analysis (for example, transforming
vegetation, shade, and light features). Features
are then classified and edited to derive deforestation
and other maps by state (from a 1997 baseline). The
thematic maps and Landsat imagery are made available
to the Brazilian community.
The deforestation mapping has some limitations.
Besides being labor intensive, the analysis is also
dependent on the availability of cloud-free imagery.
PRODES mapping also misses small plots of deforestation
(3.0 to 6.5 hectares) caused by small disturbances
to the forest canopy, such as those caused by selective
logging, which is practiced extensively throughout the
Brazilian Amazon. Enforcement of policy and regulation
at the federal level remains fragile, yet such deforestation
data can provoke significant public pressure,
which often results in policy changes.
SIVAM-SIPAM
The Amazon Surveillance System project (Sistema de
Vigilância da Amazônia in Portuguese) is a multi-billion
dollar monitoring system that uses a sophisticated mix
of fixed and mobile ground radar and airborne surveillance.
SIVAM was conceived in the 1990s by the
Office of the President, the Ministry of Justice, and the
Brazilian Air Force, to defend the Legal Amazon and
monitor illegal activity (drug trafficking, illegal logging,
or burning). The system, later renamed the Amazonian
Protection System (SIPAM) came into force in
1999.
SIVAM’s infrastructure is able to acquire, process,
and disseminate a variety of spatial information from
various sources (radar, Landsat, SPOT [Satellite Pour
l’Observation de la Terre], CBERS [China Brazil Earth
Resources Satellite], and ERS-1 [European Remote
Sensing Satellite]). This costly, state-of-the-art system
offers a solid infrastructure and capacity for comprehensive
monitoring; the data that can be acquired and
processed could be applied to environmental monitoring,
including vegetation cover, hydrology, human
occupation, and fire monitoring. With all its potential,
nevertheless, it appears that social buy-in for SIVAM
has not consolidated completely.
Environmental Control System on Rural Properties
The State Environment Foundation of Mato Grosso
(FEMA/MT)—the entity responsible for management
of the state’s environmental policy—developed the
Environmental Control System on Rural Properties.
This system uses monitoring as one element to enforce
existing legislation, mitigate environmental liabilities,
and protect environmental assets. The system focuses
on large land holdings (1,000 hectares or more) in
areas most affected by deforestation. FEMA uses
Remote Sensing (RS)/Geographic Information System
(GIS) technology to collect and manage land-use
information—particularly agriculture and livestock—
in the state, using visual interpretation of land cover
and deforestation from detailed satellite images to prioritize
field visits; identification of heat sources from
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA)
satellite data to identify areas of incidence of fire and
fire risk; GIS technology to generate maps, graphics,
and tables to help field inspectors and planners to
locate, quantify, and categorize environmental damage;
its comprehensive GIS reference library of properties
to pinpoint the precise location of licensed activities on
properties; and a Global Positioning System (GPS) to
guide FEMA field inspectors to locations where noncompliance
is suspected. GPS is also useful to update
and complement RS/GIS data with information from
the ground.
The system has proven to be efficient and the role of
RS/GIS has helped target and prioritize areas for field
inspection. Over two months in 2000, for instance, 10
field teams carried out inspection and enforcement
campaigns on almost 3,000 rural properties. For the
same year, 50 noncompliant landowners were arrested;
the number of identified heat sources was lower in
relation to the previous year; and the demand for environmental
licenses increased.
Source: Nuguerón and Stolle 2007.
CHAPTER 7: MONITORING AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS FOR FOREST MANAGEMENT 251