Garrett Publishes on the Positive Impact of Amazon Protections for Brazilian Farmers

Rachael Garrett, Associate Director of the GDP Center’s Land Use and Livelihoods Initiative (LULI) and Assistant Professor in the Department of Earth and Environment at Boston University, published an Op-Ed in the Conversation this week, entitled, “Strict Amazon protections made Brazilian farmers more productive, new research shows.”  This Op-Ed, complements her latest journal article published in Global Environmental Change, entitled, “Intensification in agriculture-forest frontiers: Land use responses to development and conservation policies in Brazil.” 

Dr. Garrett writes about the implications of new policy discussions in Brazil led by new President-elect Jair Bolsonaro to cut environmental regulations in the Brazilian Amazon. She finds that stricter regulations have led to more innovation by Brazilian farmers to increase productivity of their land.

From the text of the Op-Ed:

Strong environmental protections are necessary to save the Amazon, protecting Brazil and the world from the loss of this critical, fragile habitat.

If Brazil’s next president dismantles its environmental laws, corporations could abandon their zero-deforestation standards in the Amazon. That could have ripple effects in other threatened habitats worldwide.

Far from being bad for business, Brazil’s Amazonian protections help sustain the country as a global breadbasket.

If Bolsonaro scraps them, he won’t just imperil a legendary rainforest. He’ll hurt Brazilian farmers, too – and the consumers worldwide who depend on them.

Dr. Garrett’s research examines interactions between agriculture, ecosystem services, and economic development at multiple spatial and temporal scales to better define what sustainable food systems look like and how to achieve them. She is focused on finding policy, technology, and market solutions that will help feed a growing world population without comprising the well-being of future generations. Dr. Garrett is particularly interested in understanding how changing food supply chains shape environmental governance, land use, and livelihoods in the tropics. Most of Dr. Garrett’s research is centered on commercial oilseed and cattle production, particularly in South America. Dr. Garrett’s research utilizes both quantitative and qualitative methods and designs, including case studies, modeling, and statistical analysis to assess the complex feedbacks between local land use decisions and global food system processes.

Follow her on Twitter: @rach_garr