The situation of the Cerrado, Brazil’s second largest biome, can now be monitored in real time by anyone. The National Institute for Space Research (Inpe) has launched Deter Cerrado, a tool that provides access to graphs on deforestation in the region, which spans over 2 million square kilometers and accounts for 24% of the national territory.
The tool gathers images produced by the Wi-Fi camera installed on the Cbers-4 satellite. Daily, these images will be forwarded to the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama) to monitor areas of illegal deforestation. “With this data, we will certainly have more effective actions in combating deforestation,” said Jair Schmitt, director of Forests and Deforestation Combat at the Ministry of the Environment.
Through the system, it is possible to check deforestation in the Cerrado by state and municipality. It also offers maps to compare the advancement of vegetation cover removal since 2000, based on information from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) and the Brazilian Forest Service.
The World Bank finances the initiative through the Forest Investment Program (FIP). The research is developed jointly by Inpe, the Federal University of Goiás (UFG), and the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG).
Source: Government of Brazil