Land Use, Land Cover Change and Sustainable Intensification of Agriculture and Livestock in the Amazon and the Atlantic Forest in Brazil

Abstract

The Amazon and the Atlantic Forest are Brazilian biomes that suffered an intense land use and land cover change, marked by the loss of native forest and expansion of agriculture and livestock. This article aims to analyze land use and land cover change history and to propose a sustainable alternative for agriculture and livestock as an opportunity for rural development in these biomes. The statistics of the platform from the Annual Mapping Project for Land Use and Land Cover in Brazil (MapBiomas) were used in an annual historical series from 1985 to 2020. The analysis of land use and land cover changes indicates that the Amazon native forest was reduced by 44.53 million hectares (Mha), while pasture, agriculture and planted forest increased by 38.10, 6.06 and 0.26 Mha, respectively, over the 35 years (1985 to 2020). In the Atlantic Forest, for the same period, forest and pasture reduced by 0.99 and 11.53 Mha, respectively, while agriculture expanded by 8.06 Mha and planted forest by 2.99 Mha. Sustainable land use strategies, such as the Integration Crop-Livestock-Forest (ICLF), can support the increase in agricultural production while recovering and preserving the environment. Policies and programs should consider regional particularities and barriers for more significant adoption of this strategy.