Forests and Agricultural Productivity: Financing Conservation in Brazil's Agricultural Frontier
Forests and Agricultural Productivity: Financing Conservation in Brazil's Agricultural Frontier Location: Brazil Partners: Woodwell Climate Research Center, Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM) Between 1985 and 2022, over 13% of Brazil’s Amazon–Cerrado Region (ACR)—where the Amazon and Cerrado biomes converge—was cleared for agriculture. This included the loss of approximately 5.18 million hectares of forests and woodlands. Brazil’s economy heavily relies on agricultural commodities like soybeans. In 2022, a record soybean harvest contributed to a 2.9% rise in national GDP. However, increased deforestation —mainly for agriculture—has led to rising local temperatures and vapour pressure deficits , negatively affecting crop yields. Scientific analysis shows that forest cover explains nearly 30% of the variation in soybean yields across landscapes in the ACR, due to forests’ ability to cool and stabilize the local climate. Deforestation also reduces agricultural re...