The application of earth observation information to help manage land use change in Brazil: An analysis of user needs

Brazil is a country with some of the most important forest ecosystems and natural resources in the world. The expansion of agriculture, livestock, demand for food production, extractive industries, illegal logging, land... [ view full abstract ]

Brazil is a country with some of the most important forest ecosystems and natural resources in the world. The expansion of agriculture, livestock, demand for food production, extractive industries, illegal logging, land conflicts, hydropower projects, deforestation and fire are some of the main pressures associated with land use and land use change in different regions of Brazil. Despite the attempts of different institutions aiming to promote the use of earth observation to support land use management and conservation projects in Brazil, established institutions at the national and state level are encountering several problems to implement environmental policies and to improve the quality of services provided for the Brazilian society. The specific agenda and lack of communication between institutions, finance, bureaucracy, legal frameworks, politics, finance and the user knowledge to access and apply all the geospatial technologies and remote sensing data available are some of the issues across a wide range of public and private organizations. Expanding on recent debates in environmental governance and political issues associated with deforestation levels, we show the challenges to promote the use of earth observation and how institutions are dealing with political and economic instabilities to apply environmental policies. The conflict of interests, historic political agendas, pressure groups within national and state governments and the lack of coordination and the conflict of national policies on specific agendas to promote the expansion of agribusiness and environmental policies at the same time. The use of earth observation and advanced technologies is very important to assist policy-making, but is just one essential factor to help governments to promote sustainable development and to reduce the complexity of institutions arrangements and particular agendas in different sectors.