Realtime Deforestation Monitoring Report (RDM 20) – May 2024

The RDM 20 report of May 2024 highlights 9 case studies linked to the beef and soy supply chains in the Cerrado, Amazon and Pantanal biomes. The cases include the indication of non-compliance with the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) covering deforestation of native vegetation classified as Forest type, according to the forest definition of FAO, or any kind of illegality in the clearance of any other type of native vegetation after December 2020.

The 9 cases present 4,480 hectares of deforestation in Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul states. The cases cover deforestation alerts detected between March and April 2024, with visually confirmed deforestation events between April 2023 and April 2024.

Together with the confirmed cleared area of native vegetation, the RDM also estimates the linked CO2 emissions (above-ground carbon emissions) according to vegetation type. The 9 cases of the RDM 20 report represent a gross emission of up to 1 million tons of CO2.

The EUDR prohibits commodities and products that have been produced in plots of land subjected to deforestation or forest degradation after 31 December 2020 from being placed in the EU market (deforestation-free requirement). It also requires relevant products to be produced in accordance with the relevant legislation of the countries of origin (legality requirement). All the cases included in RDM 20 showcase non-compliance issues related to these EUDR requirements, considering specifically deforestation of native vegetation classified as Forest type, according to the definition of FAO, and illegal clearance of any type of native vegetation taking place after December 2020.