The document summarizes research into whether deforestation reduction from a REDD+ initiative in the Brazilian Amazon was permanent after the initiative ended. The researchers found that treated households that adopted alternative livelihood activities promoted by the initiative had significantly more forest cover years later compared to control households, while treated households that did not adopt the alternative livelihoods did not have significant forest outcomes. This provides evidence that adopting alternative livelihoods can help produce self-sustaining forest conservation outcomes from REDD+ initiatives over the long run.

1. The permanence of deforestation
reduction may depend upon the adoption
of alternative livelihood activities:
Evidence from an Amazon REDD+ site
Cauê Carrilho, Carla Morsello
Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil
cauecarrilho@gmail.com

2. REDD+: Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest
Degradation and conservation, sustainable management and
enhancement of carbon stocks

3. Research problem
REDD+ is reaching some level of deforestation reduction, but do
outcomes persist after REDD+ interventions have ended?
Which implementation factors may help self-sustain outcomes?
?
X

4. Research problem
We investigated the long-term outcomes for forest conservation of a
REDD+ initiative in the Brazilian Amazon.
We then evaluated whether the adoption of alternative livelihood
activities was a causal mechanism for self-sustaining forest
conservation outcomes by searching for heterogeneous effects among
households that adopted and did not adopt those activities.

5. 2010 2019
Before After
52 46
Treatment Control
Quasi-experimental design
Groups
The REDD+ initiative
Project Sustainable Settlements in the
Amazon:
Pará, Amazon, Brazil.
Mix of interventions.
350 smallholders.
Launched: 2012; ended: 2017.
Pictures from:
https://assentamentosustentavel.org.br/

6. 2019
2010 2014
2012 2017
Forest outcomes were non-permanent at first sight
Simonet, G. et al, 2019. Effectiveness of a REDD+ project in
reducing deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. American
Journal of Agricultural Economics, v. 101, n. 1, p. 211-229.

7. Treated households that adopted
alternative livelihood (25)
An average of 14.67% to 16.90%
more forest cover (~10.40 to
~11.98 ha) than controls
Treated households that did not
them (27)
No significant forest outcomes
compared to controls
REDD+ heterogenous effects

8. Conclusions
• Our results suggest the adoption of alternative livelihood activities
helped to boost forest cover in the long run.
• For reaching self-sustaining REDD+ outcomes for forest conservation,
we need to promote the adoption of alternative livelihood activities.
Thank you!
cauecarrilho@gmail.com
Twitter: cauecarrilho