Brazil’s IMASUL Agency Used an Online GIS Portal to Save Time and Money on Enhanced Deforestation Monitoring

The environmental agency, the Instituto de Meio Ambiente de Mato Grosso do Sul (IMASUL) is responsible for monitoring roughly 140,000 square miles of land in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul. The area, known for its rich diversity of savannas, forests, and wetlands, is home to thousands of plants, wildlife, and endemic bird species. But IMASUL experiences challenges monitoring and imaging these areas because of the remoteness and lack of road infrastructure. 

The IMASUL team has dedicated extensive time to the manual scrutiny of satellite images and tracking of deforestation activities. However, this approach was inefficient and hampered the agency’s ability to respond effectively. Moreover, the absence of a secure, current data repository impeded the swift application and management of fines for illegal deforestation, which in turn limited their capacity to deter these activities.

To address these challenges, IMASUL collaborated with Esri partner Codex to develop the web-based system called the Deforestation Alert Monitor in Mato Grosso do Sul. Before the system's implementation, teams had to travel up to 500 km to detect deforestation and prosecute offenders. Now, they can remotely monitor a larger volume of infractions, reducing operating costs and decision-making time.

The Deforestation Alert Monitor is an online solution built using geographic information system (GIS) technology that leverages the capabilities of ArcGIS Hub to disseminate spatial data about the environment. The data collected is inclusive of vegetation suppression, a technique in remote sensing that removes the chlorophyll from plant life so staff can uncover what is typically invisible to human eyes. Through ArcGIS Hub, IMASUL can integrate ArcGIS Dashboards, facilitating the visualization of environmental data from over 18 governmental bodies. Using ArcGIS Enterprise with their new digital, cloud-based architecture, IMASUL has seamlessly integrated a range of high-resolution satellite imagery sources to streamline deforestation monitoring. This has notably enhanced the agency's ability to swiftly identify infractions and provide essential support for legal processes by enabling the remote monitoring of extensive land areas.

IMASUL’s new GIS-powered portal has translated to both time and cost savings. Since the portal has been implemented, IMASUL has collected $4.6 million in fines (one fine collected as a result of the ArcGIS monitoring system was $1 million alone).

Previously, to evaluate forest suppression, it took IMASUL staff almost a year to cross-check with permits. With the new portal, staff time to complete these tasks is reduced to two to three months. In the first two months of 2023, the total value of fines collected for deforestation activities was equivalent to the total fines applied throughout 2022.

The time savings have enabled IMASUL to expand the total area and detail of monitoring. The agency can now use resources on more strategic environmental initiatives, such as becoming carbon-neutral by 2030. The portal also offers a user-friendly interface that empowers staff to swiftly pinpoint areas of concern and issue automated notifications and fines. Additionally, the agency can cross-reference its data with the Cadastro Ambiental Rural (CAR), Brazil’s national policy framework for georeferencing natural land.

This more efficient system has bolstered IMASUL's capacity to enforce environmental regulations with improved vigilance and effectiveness.