Brazilian Farm Pilot Shows Financial Incentives Can Protect Forest
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A pilot project in Brazil has successfully used payments to landowners to protect over 20,000 hectares of forest in the Cerrado and Amazon. The program, called CONSERV, provided financial incentives to farmers like Carlos Roberto Simonetti to maintain standing forests on their land. Ongoing contracts are now protecting an additional 7,000 hectares, and organizers are seeking to scale the model.
Facts First
- A pilot project protected over 20,000 hectares of forest in Brazil's Cerrado and Amazon biomes between 2020 and 2024.
- The CONSERV program paid landowners to maintain forests where they were legally permitted to clear land.
- Funding came from Norway and The Netherlands, with ongoing contracts now funded by agribusiness companies.
- The project ran on 23 properties, including Fazenda Natureza Feliz, a 17,000-hectare farm operated by Carlos Roberto Simonetti.
- Organizers are seeking to scale the program without relying on donations.
What Happened
The Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM) ran a pilot project for payment for ecosystem services (PES) called CONSERV in the Brazilian states of Mato Grosso and Pará. Between 2020 and 2024, the project provided financial incentives to landowners to maintain standing forests on 23 properties, protecting 20,707 hectares of land in the Cerrado and Amazon biomes. Funding was provided by the governments of Norway and The Netherlands. One participating landowner is Carlos Roberto Simonetti, who operates Fazenda Natureza Feliz, a 17,000-hectare farm where the Cerrado savanna meets the Amazon Rainforest.
Why this Matters to You
This pilot demonstrates a practical model that may help protect critical ecosystems globally. If scaled, such programs could offer farmers and landowners a viable economic alternative to deforestation, potentially helping to stabilize climate patterns and preserve biodiversity that benefits communities worldwide. For consumers, this could mean more sustainable supply chains for commodities like soy, corn, and cotton.
What's Next
Ongoing contracts funded by members of the Soft Commodities Forum are already protecting an additional 7,000 hectares in Mato Grosso and Maranhão. IPAM is currently seeking to scale up the CONSERV program without relying on donations. The success of the pilot suggests this model could be expanded to protect more of the estimated 1.5 million hectares that were at risk of legal deforestation, according to an internal IPAM report from 2016.