A large proportion of recent Brazilian Amazon deforestation is occurring on untitled public forestlands through land grabbing. This emerging risk demands long-term conservation strategies. Here we propose prioritizing land tenure security, technological improvement, and law enforcement.
Land-tenure insecurity has been a long-lasting issue in the Brazilian Amazon. It involves the uncertainty of recognition of a person’s right to land (or a public body’s management right) and the consequent risk of having it threatened and even lost by competing claims. Land-tenure insecurity, thus, is at the root of the difficulties in adopting sustainable land use models.