Alternatives to slash-and-burn in Brazil: Summary report and synthesis of phase II

The conversion of primary forest to other land uses in the Amazon threatens biodiversity and releases carbon into the atmosphere, but makes economic development and poverty reduction possible. Small-scale farmers practising slash-and-burn cultivation account for a significant proportion of tropical deforestation. However, the conditions necessary for increased productivity of alternative land use systems (LUS) to improve farmer welfare and simultaneously reduce deforestation are not well understood. The research presented in this report attempts to determine the environmental consequences of different LUS in the western Brazilian Amazon, whether these consequences can be mitigated with appropriate technological, policy and institutional changes and what sorts of tradeoffs exist among the different social objectives facing policy makers. The research programme implemented during Phase II of ASB s project in Brazil was designed to better understand how the Government of Brazil, national and international research organizations and donor agencies can balance global environmental objectives with economic development and poverty reduction. The key question can be summarized as: can intensifying land use within forest and on cleared land simultaneously reduce deforestation and reduce poverty?