Le Brésil maîtrise-t-il (enfin) la déforestation en Amazonie ?

In the last 10 years, the deforested land in the Amazon has been annually decreasing, the deforestation for 2014 representing less than 20 % of the 2004 figures. Does this mean that Brazil now controls the phenomenon? Answering this question is a complex task since the deforestation unfolds through several dimensions: economic (what are the rationales of the deforestation), social (access to land, land conflicts), environmental (impact on the climate, local or global effects, biodiversity) or geopolitical (Brazil’s role on the international negotiations on climate and GES emissions). The enormous size of the Amazon adds to this complexity, as the various factors do not necessarily combine everywhere in the same way. Despite this complexity, we propose here a synthesis of the principal issues underlying the deforestation. We first recall how, when and where this phenomenon appeared and grew in the Brazilian Amazon, and what the consequences at multiple scales are. We then analyze the causes and the social actors involved. Lastly, we present the actions led by the Brazilian Federal government since 2004 to curb the phenomenon. The conclusion leads us to think about the limits of current policies and the challenges which remain to be addressed