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Brazil: News 

As the only major, forested country without a GFW presence, Brazil had posed a significant funding and logistical challenge.  But thanks to an October 2001 grant providing seed funding from the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation (BMZ), we are poised to establish GFW in the last and largest tropical frontier. We are actively seeking funds to match our BMZ grant to progress with this work quickly.

Human Pressure on the Brazilian Amazon Forests

Curitiba, Brazil, March 20, 2006 - In partnership with Imazon, the World Resources Institute/Global Forest Watch released the report Human Pressure on the Brazilian Amazon Forests. The first of its kind, the report provides a starting point for tracking the speed at which human pressure is spreading in the Brazilian Amazon.

"What these incomparable set of maps, and the accompanying report show, however, is that while there is more than sufficient unspoiled area in the Amazon to meet our preservation goals, we must be vigilant to the pressure on the Basin that radiates out from settlements, and, as importantly, the impact of isolated development that disrupts intact ecosystems and does damage in ways we have yet to fully understand. These maps paint a stark and compelling picture." Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Former President of Brazil

Read former President Cardoso's remarks in the report Foreword.

See the full press release.

Full Report, English Version (4.1 MB)
Foreword (HTML)
Executive Summary (
Overview of Findings and Maps (1.1 MB)

Assessing Human Pressure in the Brazilian Amazon Forests

Imazon, in partnership with GFW, released the third issue of the series "State of the Amazon." The brief highlights the draft results of an analysis examining the extent of human activities in the Brazilian Amazon by integrating existing spatially explicit information. The first of its kind, the analysis provides an indication of the extent of the human pressure allowing users to distill insights for land-use planning and monitoring.

The analysis integrates data for five indicators of human activities: deforestation, urban zones, agrarian reform settlements, forest fires and mining. Preliminary results show that the human impact is greater than previously estimated. The policy brief concludes by describing how the information can help guide decision-makers to measure human pressure, assist law enforcement and prevent further degradation. Principal project supporters include the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the AbnAmro Bank, and IKEA. The full report will be released in late 2005/early 2006.

View the Human Pressure in the Brazilian Amazon English Version (.7 MB)
View the Pressão Humana no Bioma Amazôn Portuguese Version (1.3 MB)
Click here for Brazilian Amazon: Interactive Map

For further information, please e-mail gfw@wri.org.

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Workshop on Building Transparency in the Forest Sector in Brazil

Chapada dos Guimarães, Mato Grosso state, Brazil, October 23-24, 2003 - Hosted by Instituto Centro de Vida (ICV), in collaboration with WRI, GFW, Instituto do Homen e Meio Ambiente de Amazonia (IMAZON), and ABN AMRO/Banco Real. This workshop gathered civil society and NGO monitoring groups, government officials responsible for detecting and monitoring illegal forest activities, and investors, producers and buyers in the forest sector to discuss what data is needed, and what mechanisms could be developed to make information on forest use publicly available. The workshop was presented to the USAID/Brazil Environment Program annual meeting November 16-19, 2003. View in Portuguese: general description, brochure & presentation. For information contact: Janice Wiles, South America Project Manager at jwiles@wri.org.

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