July 2018 – Conducted since 2011 through a partnership between the Interstate Tobacco Industry Union (SindiTabaco) and the Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM), remote-sensing monitoring has consolidated relevant information on the dynamics of forest cover in two forest blocs in Rio Grande do Sul. Currently, the monitored area comprises 273,865.14 hectares, in 22 municipalities.
The latest monitoring report, produced by the team of the UFSM Remote-Sensing Laboratory, showed positive results to the tobacco sector, considering that in both blocs the crop is produced. Information was obtained through map cross sections featuring the land cover in the period from 2011 to 2017, when it became evident that the forest cover remained untouched, besides a negligible rate of deforestation practices. According to the coordinator of the project, professor Rudiney Soares Pereira, the blocs attest to a rather stable land occupation pattern during the analyzed period.
“The two blocs are experiencing a forest expansion process, which is an assurance that any intervention that might occur in this area will maintain the forests preserved. Expansion is going on and this is the important news; it would be a cause for concern if it were not occurring. Furthermore, we came to the conclusion that the small deforested areas are for subsistence crops and not for agricultural exploration”, says Pereira.
According to him, the percentage of forest cover in the two analyzed blocs – 43.93% in bloc 1 and 41.42% in bloc 2 –, is well above the 30% recommended by the United Nations Organization (UNO). “If all municipalities had this percentage of forest cover, we would have a good balance between the dynamics of land use and forest preservation. The result sounds promising and demonstrates that tobacco does not cause destructive reflections”, the professor concludes.
2011-2017 RESULTS
BLOC 1 [137,663.50 hectares]
Municipalities: Estrela Velha, Salto do Jacuí, Arroio do Tigre, Tunas, Lagoão, Segredo, Passa Sete, Sobradinho, Ibarama, Agudo and Lagoa Bonita do Sul.
BLOC 2 [136,201.64 hectares]
Municipalities: Júlio de Castilhos, Nova Palma, Pinhal Grande, Dona Francisca, Faxinal do Soturno, Ivorá, Santa Maria, Silveira Martins, São João do Polêsine, Restinga Seca and Agudo.
SindiTabaco president Iro Schünke maintains that the results reinforce the rates achieved in previous surveys. “Average forest cover in the farms where tobacco is grown in the South of the Country has continued on the approximate level of the percentage referred to by the Uno, according to a survey conducted by Afubra and the University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), ranging from 27% to 29%, depending on the growing season”, Schünke recalls.
Still according to Schünke, monitoring is demystifying the responsibility of the tobacco sector on deforestation. “The role of the university counts a lot when it comes to supporting credible and responsible information. It has always been a sensitive question for the supply chain, but monitoring is increasingly yielding results and information based on solid foundations, such as the conclusions of the researchers that take part in the project, which demystify the belief that tobacco jeopardizes the environment”, he concludes.
According to the executive officer, farmer awareness programs make a difference to the sector, which relies on free technical assistance provided by the Integrated Tobacco Production System. “We are constantly exchanging information regarding the crop and these results are certainly a reflection of the partnership between farmers and industries”, he emphasizes. Within this context, besides monitoring practices and farmer awareness, other obligations are strictly complied with, such as the contract requirement that sets forth that production and commercialization of tobacco should be in full compliance with the environmental standards in force; and refrain from acquiring tobacco grown on illegally deforested areas, as well as tobacco cured in barns with wood coming from native forests in disharmony with environmental legislation.
KNOW MORE – Permanent destruction of native forests was already cause for concern in the 1970s, when the tobacco sector started encouraging the farmers to reforest idle lands, turning them self-sufficient in fuelwood for curing their tobacco. In 2011, an unprecedented agreement for the preservation of the Atlantic Forest was signed between SindiTabaco, Brazilian Tobacco Growers Association, Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama) and the Ministry of the Environment. In that year, areas began to be monitored with the use of the RapidEye Earth Observation Constellation, high resolution images that, for example, can detect a vehicle from a satellite that is at an altitude of 800 kilometers. The RapidEye Red Edge Band can discriminate vegetation, capturing alterations in areas of up to 25 m², distinguishing forests from native pastureland stretches. Any object either equal to, or bigger than five square meters is identified through this monitoring device, that is to say, if two trees are cut down in the middle of a forest, this space will certainly be detected by the RapidEye. The project relies on a technical team of several researchers and is already yielding results. Through the creation of a geo-referenced database, segmentation and classification tests of the set of digital images were conducted, classifying them as native, planted forests, agriculture, exposed soil (fallow\), field and water.
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