Yesterday, Elisabeth Rosenthal’s second major article on deforestation and climate change ran on the front page of the New York Times. The piece was the sixth in a series about ‘stopgap measures that could limit climate change’ according to the Times.

The article outlines a program gaining support from South American governments and foreign political leaders alike: paying local farmers a fee per acre to conserve and monitor the rainforest land they own. Ideally, this program would change local cattle ranchers and soy bean farmers into Brazilian conservationists – a term that has historically been a laughable oxymoron in the country.

Rosenthal notes the simplicity of the program, which may be its most serviceable aspect. The farmers do much less work to preserve the rainforest than they do farming it. Yet, it is what they don’t do that helps limit CO2 emissions on three distinct fronts: First, by not cutting down trees, they negate the emission from actual deforestation. Second, they don’t destroy the natural carbon sinks that are the Earth’s CO2 regulators. Third, there is no emission from raising and processing cattle and soy beans.

Simple is an attractive and yet misleading word in conservation. Simplicity is a necessity to motivate generations of Brazilians who’ve been encouraged by their government to develop the rainforest. People resist change and are wholly unresponsive when it requires serious additional work. In this respect, the program is incredibly promising as it takes less work than the actual ranching does.

But simple can easily be manipulated. One of the central issues with the payment program is ensuring that land is actually preserved. A culture of self-interest combines with vast acreage to make it very easy for farmers to take payments and still develop the land. There needs to be a system of checks that provides transparency and enforcement.

This is where the Amazon Protection System – SIPAM would come in handy. A Brazilian governmental organization and a feature of certain Birthright Earth trips, SIPAM has been in operation since 1990 and monitors the health of the rainforest as well as illegal logging and poaching with infrared satellites. This is an ideal tool for ensuring that the deals made with farmers are adhered to. Before Brazil starts handing out money without any kind of check, the state should realize the advanced monitoring program they have at their disposal.

If it can be enforced and the money is enough to compensate the farmers’ normal incomes, this program could be incredibly successful. Without being able to turn all interested parties into environmentalists, money will be key in conserving the rainforest.

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- tim