B 1.2. Nevertheless, could expansion threaten areas where important biomass is supposed to be protected?
The expansion of sugarcane in the last 25 years has been essentially in the Center South of Brazil, in areas far away from the Amazon Forest, the Atlantic Forest and the marshland in Pantanal. From 1992 to 2003 in the Center South, expansion was almost totally (94%) in existing units, and new agricultural frontiers were hardly involved. In So Paulo growth occurred with the substitution of other crops and pastureland. Now and in the next few years growth will be in the Center South, especially in the west of So Paulo, on the outskirts of Mato Grosso, in some areas in the State of Gois, and mainly in worn-out areas of pastureland or fields. These areas in part occupied in the past (since Brazil was discovered and certainly well before PROALCOOL) tracts of the Atlantic Forest and the savannahs. Expansion is not considered into any forest or protected areas, especially as current legislation would not allow it.
