Adalberto Veríssimo and Carlos Souza Jr.

Imazon

Skoll Entrepreneur(s): Adalberto Veríssimo and Carlos Souza Jr.
Award Year: 2010
Focus Area(s) Addressed: Deforestation

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Adalberto (Beto) Veríssimo and Carlos Souza, Jr., are recognized leaders in rainforest conservation, developing, in Imazon, the first independent deforestation monitoring system for the Brazilian Amazon. Beto co-founded Imazon in 1990, and Carlos joined shortly thereafter to head efforts in technical mapping and satellite imagery. Imazon also strengthens government efforts to find areas at risk for deforestation within municipalities, and motivate landowners to reduce deforestation.

IMPACT AS OF MAY 2013:

In April 2013, The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced Imazon as the first breakthrough social enterprise to be supported by the Innovation Investment Alliance—a new Global Development Alliance with the Skoll Foundation.
The county of Paragominas in the state of Para was once known as an epicenter of Amazon destruction and lawlessness, with many illegal sawmills and organized crime. Then, the federal government put Paragominas on a deforestation blacklist which limited its access to credit. That’s when Imazon began working with leaders and government to help Paragominas convert to a legal economy with no deforestation. Today the illegal sawmills are gone, replaced by profitable, sustainably-managed logging operations. The citizens have committed to no more deforestation, and government has clamped down on organized crime.
Imazon has made Paragominas an example of how a county can turn itself around and become a model of 21st century sustainable development with no deforestation. The governor of the state of Para, three times the size of California, has committed to replicating this model throughout the state.
The partnership with public prosecutors’ offices to monitor deforestation is facilitating enforcement of conservation law in 75 million hectares of conservation areas and indigenous lands.
With more than 400 publications, Imazon is considered by many to be the most productive research group in the Amazon. In 2009, it was featured in 1,778 press articles.
In 2012, they released a comprehensive report, Transparency in Forest Management in Pará, where they assess the logging situation in the State from August, 2010 to July, 2011.
Its deforestation rates are reported monthly, and the Brazilian government is forced to respond to probing questions about what it is doing to stop illegal deforestation.
Imazon has also been published in 170 in scientific journals. The Institute has published 48 books, and more than 150 technical and public policy articles.
More than 140 professionals have received training at Imazon in the areas of ecology, forest engineering, environmental law, rural and mineral economics, geoprocessing, rural planning and public policies. Imazon prepares researchers with analytical skills and field experience, directed towards understanding and solving Amazonian environmental problems.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THEIR WORK:

Tonight we honor nine individuals representing seven organizations doing work in environmental sustainability, economic opportunity, community development, and conflict resolution.

They work throughout the world in U.S., Africa, Indonesia, Latin America , Afghanistan and beyond. Jeff. would you come join me?

Imazon, Adalberto Verissimo and Carlos Souza Jr. Adalberto Verissimo, Beto, and Carlos Souza are recognized leaders in rainforest protection.

Beto and Carlos have made it possible to measure and monitor the rate and extent to which we are losing the forest. Leveraging technical mapping and satellite imagery, they've developed the first independent deforestation monitoring system for the Brazilian amazon.

Recently the Brazilian government defined rigorous new limits to deforestation, and committed to stop illegal logging, focusing on hot spot regions identified by Imazone.

Imazon is working directly with public prosecutors offices in Brazil to monitor deforestation to help enforce conservation law in 75 million hectares of protected areas and indigenous lands in the Amazon.

Beto and Carlos.

We are very thankful tonight. It's an amazing moment for us.

We are so very optimistic that it is possible to reduce deforestation in the Amazon region and develop this region for the people living there. We have a list of people that we would like to thank.

We would like to start with Jeff and Sally. We are very thankful for your generosity.

It is a big honor for us to be part of this core family. And we to extend this thanks to the whole foundation.

For the board members into the staff. We would like to express our gratitude toward or colleagues and friends for Amazon.

The education passion to conduct their work. We know that without this, we wouldn't be here tonight celebrating this extraordinary moments.

This would be not possible, also without the mentoring and inspiration of our friends, Professor Christopher Yu from Penn State University, who co-founded Amazon.

Together with Beto and other Brazilians.

Chris guided us and helped us to become better researchers and social entrepreneurs. For that, we are very thankful.

We are also grateful to our donors that over 20 years have supported us to conduct innovative working in Brazil for sustainable Amazonia, and to create a better place for the region.

We know also that the positive impact of our work cannot be achieved without a hundred organizations, private companies, indigenous communities, all the angels in social movement has been part of our work.

Carlos and I like to say it. a special thanks for our family, for a light hour in every day, and for supporting our journey, many times far from the home. We already feel the positive energy to be part of this cause network.

We learned a lot in the last three days, and we know that's just the beginning. Inspire stories of social entrepreneurs have touched us deeply in our hearts and create even stronger motivation for us to continue our work.

Increase our sense of mission to help to create not only a sustainable Amazon, but to go beyond and help all the folks that live in Africa and South East Asians. To really help the first time a global monitoring system that's is going to cover a billion hectares of tropical forest that really have a tremendous value in terms of carbon environment service, and is special in terms of cultural value as well.

So, and again, thank you very much for this opportunity, and that we're very pleased to be here.

Adalberto Veríssimo and Carlos Souza Jr.