Projects

IIS is one of the contributors to the Cerrado 50–50 Plan, which conducts a strategic assessment of livestock expansion in the Matopiba region (covering parts of the states of Maranhão, Tocantins, Piauí and Bahia). The focus is on impacts on land use, native Cerrado vegetation and carbon emissions associated with the conversion of natural habitats.

The project responds to a demand from the Secretariat for Deforestation Control of the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (MMA) and provides technical input to support the formulation of strategies aimed at reconciling agricultural production with environmental conservation, with an emphasis on preventing deforestation.

The methodology combines spatial analyses and official datasets to assess land-use dynamics over the past decade. The study uses information from the Rural Environmental Registry (CAR), INCRA, Prodes Cerrado, TerraClass Cerrado and MapBiomas, as well as IIS’s own datasets on above- and below-ground carbon stocks. Based on these data, the analysis evaluates Legal Reserve and Permanent Preservation Area requirements, legal and illegal habitat loss, carbon emissions associated with the conversion of native vegetation, and future land-use change trends under short-, medium- and long-term scenarios.

The main objectives include quantifying the loss of native vegetation in Matopiba, estimating carbon emissions resulting from livestock expansion, distinguishing areas converted to pasture from other land uses, projecting future conversion scenarios, and identifying priority areas for restoration as well as areas susceptible to legal conversion.

The project also seeks to support the formulation of public policies and economic instruments aimed at reducing deforestation and promoting sustainable production practices in the Cerrado.

The initiative is coordinated by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), in partnership with the University of Wisconsin–Madison (UW) and with the collaboration of invited experts.