Cablegate: Brazil Announces Plan to Monitor Selective Logging

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DE RUEHBR #1707 2291055
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P 171055Z AUG 06
FM AMEMBASSY BRASILIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6394
INFO RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO 2697
RUEHSO/AMCONSUL SAO PAULO 7767
RUEHRG/AMCONSUL RECIFE 5305
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UNCLAS BRASILIA 001707

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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SENV TBIO KSCA BR
SUBJECT: BRAZIL ANNOUNCES PLAN TO MONITOR SELECTIVE LOGGING

REF: A) BRASILIA 265

B) BRASILIA 1657

1. Summary: Brazil intends to invest US$ 640,000 to develop a system
that will monitor selective logging in the Amazon. The GoB hopes
that the program will provide another weapon to combat deforestation
and shore up enforcement mechanisms for the recently passed Forest
Concessions Law.(ref A) INPE (The National Institute of Space
Studies) an arm of the Ministry of Science and Technology (MCT) will
coordinate the program while the NGO, IMAZON, is responsible for
executing the project. Meanwhile, the Ministry of the Environment
(MMA) should finance US$ 450,000 of the project. An additional US$
190,000 will come from a multi-use fund that supports a variety of
integrated Amazon research activities from the LBA (Large Scale
Biosphere-Atmosphere Project in the Amazon) to the Ministry of
Agriculture. End Summary

2. The project will begin with a planning workshop (to develop a
data collection model and a timeline) whenever the contract between
INPE, IMAZON and the MMA closes. IMAZON's Carlos Souza speculates
this should occur around the end of 2006. Once a model is
established, IMAZON will spend 3 months testing and calibrating the
process along the new BR-163 sustainable forest district.(ref B)
The project will then expand to chart selective logging in other
regions of the Amazon. The ultimate goals are to create a map of
locales where selective logging is occurring and, more importantly,
to demonstrate the viability of the system for future use.

3. The project will test a methodology for monitoring selective
logging developed by IMAZON's Carlos Souza Jr. Current monitoring
systems are not attuned to map areas with intact vegetation and can
only reveal logging in wide open areas. Souza's method can pinpoint
logged areas where a significant amount of forest cover remains.
One challenge the project faces is to decide from where to obtain
the necessary satellite imagery for the project. While CBERS
(China), Landsat (NASA) and Spot (France) are all viable options,
Spot records the most accurate images. It is also the most costly.
A Spot image with a resolution of up to 10 meters costs US$1,600
while a resolution of 30 meters costs US$1200. INPE's Dalton
Valeriano surmises that using Spot to monitor just the Arc of
Deforestation (approximately one-third of the Amazon) would require
an outlay of US$ 2.3 million. Valeriano added, however, that he
hoped Landsat 8 would increase access to quality images, although it
is not scheduled to be in orbit until 2009.

4. Valeriano hopes the undertaking will create a new tool with which
to aid deforestation enforcement activities similar to the DETER
satellite satellite monitoring system which provides deforestation
statistics every two weeks, or the Prodes satellite monitoring
system that supplies information on forest fire activities. He
recently stated that the system will help to control logging
activities and enforce a more rational exploitation and management
of National Forests. Satellite monitoring reveals logged areas
which can then be cross-referenced with areas where timber-licenses
are issued, to reveal illegal deforestation. Moreover this program
should also provide a measure of the intensity of exploitation in
the Amazon.

5. Comment: While the first US$ 450000 from the MMA is all but
guaranteed, the additional funding is still in question. Moreover,
this is a pilot program designed to demonstrate viability. Whether
or not it is successful, the GoB will need to find funding sources
in coming years to make the system a reality. That said, the GoB
and the MMA have a long history of utilizing satellite technology to
monitor various attributes and aspects of the Amazon. If Souza's
method proves a success, the MMA is likely to make the system
permanent. End Comment

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