Between 2007 and 2021, the state authorized the clearing of 992.587 hectares of native vegetation; this number is equivalent to 32 cities the size of Salvador. Western Bahia accounts for 80% of the deforestation authorizations.
Deforestation permits have been issued by the Bahia state environmental agency even when applicants do not meet legal requirements, according to a study released by civil society organizations this Wednesday (August 4th). The Instituto Mãos da Terra (IMATERRA), in partnership with the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA), analyzed a sample of sixteen administrative processes from the Institute of Environment and Water Resources (INEMA), which include Authorizations for the Suppression of Native Vegetation (ASVs). All processes contain irregularities that violate the law. The analysis was supported by WWF-Brazil and the Institute for Society, Population and Nature (ISPN), and is a result of the Tamo de Olho initiative, carried out through the CERES project with funding from the European Union.
Between September 2007 and June 2021, the state government granted 5.126 permits for vegetation suppression across all biomes, totaling an area of 992.587 hectares. The Corrente and Grande River basins account for 80% of the total area authorized by the state during this period (798.428 hectares). The Cerrado region, in western Bahia, supplies the São Francisco River. The results of the study, released during a seminar held at the Barreiras City Council (BA), list a series of irregularities, including conflicts with traditional communities, the use of potentially fatal wildlife capture techniques, and reports signed by unqualified officials, among other flaws.
“The expansion of agribusiness in the western region of Bahia occurred, in large part, in territories considered traditional, but which were not yet secured by the State, generating significant social conflicts in the region that persist to this day. It is noteworthy that many of these lands are unclaimed and some agribusiness ventures are associated with land grabbing for occupation in the region,” the document states. The authorized deforestation primarily benefits the cultivation of soy, corn, eucalyptus, and cotton. [See executive summary of] I study here]
According to the Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM), using data from the National Institute for Space Research (INPE), deforestation in the Cerrado biome hit a record high from 2020 to 2021, with more than 8 km² cleared. Of this deforestation, 61% occurred in the native vegetation of MATOPIBA, an area of rampant agricultural expansion encompassing the states of Maranhão, Tocantins, Piauí, and Bahia.
Irregularities found
"During the analysis of the processes, many irregularities and nonconformities were identified that directly affect biodiversity and its ecosystem services, and the traditional communities that inhabit the study region, making the analyzed ASV concessions legally questionable," the study points out.
The farm that deforested the most was Condomínio Delfin, located in Formosa do Rio Preto, with the illegal clearing of 24.732 hectares of native Cerrado, an area larger than the city of Recife. In second place is Santa Colomba, in the municipality of Cocos, with 4.986,61 hectares deforested. In third place is Formosinha, with 3.321,23 hectares, also in Formosa do Rio Preto. In the case of the latter, the analysis shows that no justification was presented for the deforestation request; even so, INEMA authorized the clearing of the vegetation.
Regarding the Delfin Condominium, the champion of deforestation that is part of the Estrondo mega-farm complex, the list of irregularities is extensive. The analysis indicates that the authorization was granted without approval of the Legal Reserve and that the studies did not present adequate information on socio-environmental impacts, such as the compromise of water resources and climate balance. Furthermore, the authorization was based on outdated studies, carried out six years prior, with incomplete fauna and flora studies. As a technique for "scaring away" animals, INEMA suggests the use of common rat traps, which can be fatal. In the region, there are also records of violence against five local traditional communities of geraizeiros, who have occupied the region for generations.
The Santa Colomba farm, the second largest deforester and located in the Cariranha River basin, was included as an exception to the scope of the analysis because of its proximity to the Corrente River and the accumulation of socio-environmental conflicts in the region. The study identified the existence of degraded areas within the property that would make it impossible to grant deforestation authorization, according to the provisions of the Forest Code. The Forest Inventory, in turn, indicates the presence of a species that does not exist in the National Database. Deforestation in the area also causes harm to the way of life of local traditional communities.
In general terms, deforestation permits do not consider fauna studies and conceal protected species from flora inventories; they agree to the use of hunting dogs to capture animals, a technique that is not recommended; they are based on reports signed by officials with a clear lack of technical knowledge (who confuse species of fauna and flora, for example) and, most importantly, they do not consider local traditional communities.
Selected river basins
Consulting the database of the Official Gazette of the State of Bahia, with a time frame between 2007 and 2021, 5.126 authorizations for native vegetation suppression were identified in all biomes of the state. Of this total, 706 authorizations were given for the Rio Grande Hydrographic Basin region and 345 were given for the Rio Corrente Basin, totaling 1.051 deforestation authorizations in the Bahian Cerrado and concentrating, in terms of area, 80% of all authorized deforestation in the period.
For the purposes of this study, authorizations issued after the publication of State Decree No. 15.180/2014 were considered. From these, a sample of 16 processes was selected that supported the issuance of Vegetation Suppression Authorizations in the Grande and Corrente River Basins by INEMA, which together correspond to a total deforestation of 50.723,99 hectares. This number is equivalent to 1,2 times the size of the city of Belo Horizonte.
The Corrente River Basin encompasses nineteen municipalities, including Bom Jesus da Lapa, Correntina, and São Desidério. The basin covers an area of 34.875 km², with an estimated population of 365.832 people. The Grande River Basin includes twelve municipalities with a total area of 76.630 km² and an estimated population of 241.553 people. The municipalities of Barreiras, Formosa do Rio Preto, and Luís Eduardo Magalhães are located within this basin. Some municipalities share locations in both basins.
Processes were selected that involved authorizations within or near Sustainable Use Conservation Units or Strictly Protected Conservation Units. Authorizations granted within high-priority areas for biodiversity, priority areas for water resource protection, and within or near territories of traditional peoples and communities were also considered. The processes were analyzed according to 21 criteria listed in the report.
Impacts
Deforestation of the native Cerrado in the western region of Bahia causes impacts that affect the food security of populations, water resources for the Brazilian Northeast, and the global climate balance, in addition to diminishing the biodiversity of the world's richest savanna in terms of fauna and flora. The second largest biome in Brazil, the Cerrado provides housing, food, and income for thousands of traditional communities in the country, many of which are invisible on official maps.
Within this biome live more than 80 indigenous ethnic groups, in addition to quilombola communities, geraizeiros, vazanteiros, coconut breakers, riverside dwellers, artisanal fishermen, fundo and fecho de pasto communities, among others, whose ways of life are directly related to the local biodiversity. According to the Tô no Mapa initiative, there are more than 3,5 times more traditional communities in the MATOPIBA region than the combined data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), the Palmares Foundation, and the National Indian Foundation (Funai) show. Known as the cradle of Brazil's waters, the Cerrado is home to the Guarani, Bambuí, and Urucuia aquifers, as well as the headwaters of eight of Brazil's twelve main hydrographic regions.
The Cerrado remains a topic of global security, being central to debates on mitigating climate change. With roots that reach over 10 meters deep, representing up to 75% of the biomass of shrubs and trees, the Cerrado is able to store approximately 13,7 billion tons of carbon.
We're watching
The disclosure is a result of the project “Integrated Management of Sustainable Landscape in the Cerrado Biome – Unveiling the Suppression of Native Vegetation in the Grande and Corrente River Basins”. The project is part of the Tamo de Olho initiative, which aims to identify emblematic cases of deforestation and violations of the territorial rights of Traditional Peoples and Communities in order to advocate with public bodies, focusing on accountability and the guarantee of rights. WWF-Brazil, ISPN, Rede Cerrado, Instituto Cerrados, and IPAM are participating in the initiative.