Pasture degradation in South East Brazil: Status, Drivers and Options for sustainable land use under climate change.

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1 Pasture degradation in South East Brazil: Status, Drivers and Options for sustainable Dietmar Sattler 1 Roman Seliger 1 Udo Nehren 4 Friederike Naegeli de Torres 1 Antonio Soares da Silva 2 Claudia Raedig 4 Helga Restum Hissa 3 Jürgen Heinrich 1 1 University of Leipzig, Institute of Geography, Physical Geography and Environmental Research, Leipzig, Germany 2 State University of Rio de Janeiro UERJ, Institute of Geography, Laboratory of Physical Geography, RJ Brazil 3 Secretariat of Agriculture and Livestock of the State of Rio de Janeiro, Rio Rural Programme, RJ Brazil 4 Technische Hochschule Köln, Institute for Technology and Resources Management in the Tropics and Subtropics (ITT), Köln, Germany

2 Pasture degradation in South East Brazil: :

3 INTECRAL Project structure and work packages Project Management & Stakeholder Integration Good agricultural practices and participatory planning Land degradation and conservation Water monitoring/ modelling, sanitation and watershed management Ecosystem Services, Alternative Markets and Governance Improving competitiveness of rural Rio de Janeiro Environmental protection and climate change adaption Adapting German green technologies and services

4 Land degradation There is a broad range of concepts: Land Degradation is the persistent decline or reduction in the capacity of the land to provide ecosystem goods and services and assure its functions over a period of time for the beneficiaries of these (FAO) occurs when native vegetation and fauna has been destroyed, removed or displaced, the fertile soil is lost, removed or eroded and the hydric system has been altered. LD takes place when the capacity for natural adaption is lost and makes socioeconomic development unfeasible. (IBAMA)

5 Land degradation Land degradation classes identified by the combination of the overall status in provisioning biophysical ecosystem services and the trend of these services Nachtergaele et al. 2011: The State of the World's Land and Water Resources for Food and Agriculture (SOLAW) Type 4: Improving lands Bare areas Type 3: Stable land, slightly or moderately degraded Water Type 1: High degradation or highly degraded lands Type 2: Moderate degradation in slightly or moderately degraded land

6 Land degradation Brazil: 22% (1.9 Million Km²) based on Deviation from long term, remotely sensed, Rain Use Efficiency adjusted NDVI Source: Gibbs, H.K. & Salmon, J.M. (2015): Mapping the world's degraded lands. Applied Geography 57:

7 Historic land use in RJ The Atlantic rainforest a story of European colonization, slavery and exploitation Felix Emile Taunay Vista de um mato virgem que se está reduzindo a carvão 1843

8 Historic land use in RJ The Atlantic rainforest a story of European colonization, slavery and exploitation Johann Jacob Steinmann Cultivo do café em uma propriedade nas Montanhas da Serra dos Órgãos 1836

9 Recent land use in RJ Percentages of LULC classes in Rio de Janeiro State (INEA 2010) SEA 2011

10 Drivers of pasture degradation ± 55% of Brazils agricultural production units are pastures From ± 4% increase of pasture area, but 100% (up to 183% CW region) herd size (SE: 62%) Dias Filho 2014, SEA 2011, IBGE 2013 increasing overstocking and overgrazing Rio de Janeiro: Smallholder farming on ± sloped, hilly pastures, only 3% pastures on plains Inadequate, lacking and unsustainable management: D. Sattler Overgrazing and no pasture recovery D. Sattler Top down tillage

11 Drivers of pasture degradation geo ecological susceptibility (weathered Acrisols, steep relief, seasonally pronounced precipitation) soil compac on, surface runoff, erosion at given ini al forms (e.g. ca le trails) and relief positions D. Sattler D. Sattler

12 Pasture degradation in RJ D. Sattler Very high percentage of RJ pastures are severely degraded, assessment needs to be improved

13 Pasture rehabilitation Site and measure selection: Degradation level light medium strong costs/investment measure Sustainable management rehabilitation with subsequent sustainable management abandonment succession afforestation

14 Pasture rehabilitation Degradation rehabilitation measure categories suggested by FAO (2013): Agronomic Vegetative + Structural + Management = Combinations Mixed cropping Contour cultivation Mulching... Grass strips Hedge barriers Windbreaks Terraces Banks Bunds Constructions Palisades Land use change Area closure Rotational grazing Mix of measures

15 Pasture rehabilitation INTECRAL case study, Itaocara, RJ Bioengineered measure with hedge terraces and pasture reformation Main objectives: erosion control and sustainable recovery of pasture productivity breaking the erosive power of water (runoff, interflow) close vegetation cover parcelling for rotational farming or other future LU options D. Sattler Property of Paulo Cesar Alves, Itaocara, RJ

16 Pasture rehabilitation INTECRAL case study, Itaocara, RJ Promotion of options for Land Use Change at pilot pasture rehabilitation measure: mixed, productive, sustainable, resilient Spring Protection Afforestation Silvo Pasture Fruit Production Rotational Cattle farming Fodder sugar cane D. Sattler

17 Pasture afforestation REGUA case study, Guapiaçu, RJ NGO, more than ha of Atlantic Forest under private protection, by 2016 ca. 320ha afforested with ca. 180 native tree species, mostly on abandoned pastures habitat for Biodiversity, water reten on, carbon storage, alterna ve rural income N. Locke D. Sattler

18 Pasture afforestation REGUA case study, Guapiaçu, RJ Study on tree growth performance on sloped vs. plain pastures of the same age Sattler et al N. Locke D. Sattler D. Sattler

19 Degraded pastures as opportunity areas e.g. for afforestation/carbon sequestration projects Cachoeiras de Macacu INEA 2010

20 Degraded pastures as opportunity areas e.g. for afforestation/carbon sequestration projects Itaocara (432 km²) Guapi Macacu WS (1,216 km²) LULC pastures + DEM slope classes

21 Degraded pastures as opportunity areas Pasture degradation in South East Brazil: Biomass carbon content of varying vegetation formations of Southeastern Atlantic Forests and afforestation. AGB=Aboveground biomass, BGB=Belowground biomass (root/shoot ratio 0.25), DBH=Diameter at breast hight (1.30m), RJ=Rio de Janeiro state, SP=São Paulo state

22 Degraded pastures as opportunity areas Potential carbon storage capacity of steep pasture slopes if afforested or spontaneously re vegetated. pastures Pastures 15 % pastures shrubland afforestation 4yr, slope young sec. forest dense ombroph. forest % LULC ha 15 (Robinson et al. 2015) (Sattler et al. 2014) (Tiepolo et al. 2002) (Lindner & Sattler 2012) MgC MgC MgC MgC GMW , , , ,878 1,709,130 Itaocara , , , ,561 1,657,406 timescale? Shrubland Afforestation Young Secondary Forest

23 Challenges ahead Improve, update and upscale basic data (LULC, Degradation assessments, carbon storage capacity) promoting sustainable pasture management and rehabilitation of degraded areas (improving awareness and education of smallholders) Intensified pasture farming at prime locations (e.g. rotational grazing) and abandonment of critical ones economic incentives for the abandonment of hazardous (sloped) pasture areas and diversification of rural income perceiving degraded sloped pastures as opportunity areas for climate change mitigation and adaption leipzig.de