Researchers find secure land rights protect the rainforest

Who owns the rainforest – and who has the right to use it – might seem like a simple question.

But in the Brazilian Amazon, that question lies at the heart of one of the world’s most persistent environmental challenges.

New research from Virginia Tech natural resource economist Stella Schons with collaborators João Paulo Mastrangelo of the University of Acre in Acre, Brazil, and Alexandre Maia University of Campinas in São Paulo, Brazil, provides some of the strongest evidence yet that secure land tenure – not merely possessing a land title – plays a critical role in reducing deforestation and improving compliance with environmental laws.

Published recently in World Development, the study examined data from more than 35,000 private rural properties in Acre, a state in the western Brazilian Amazon known both for its history of forest conservation and its growing development pressures. Using satellite and environmental registration data, the researchers compared properties with clearly declared land boundaries to those with overlapping or disputed claims.

They found that properties with secure land rights deforested less and were more likely to comply with Brazil’s Forest Code, which limits deforestation to 20 percent of each property’s area.

“We found a direct, causal link between secure land tenure and lower deforestation,” Schons said. “It’s not just about having a piece of paper that says you own the land. It’s about whether society recognizes that ownership and supports it through local governance.”

In many parts of the Amazon, even landowners with official titles face uncertainty.

Brazil’s long history of land speculation, occupation, and weak enforcement has created situations where multiple people claim the same parcel of land. When ownership is disputed or poorly governed, deforestation often follows – a way for occupants to demonstrate “productive use” of land and strengthen their claims under Brazilian law.

To study this dynamic, the researchers used a novel indicator of land tenure security: the absence of overlapping boundaries in the government’s Rural Environmental Registry, known as the Cadastro Ambiental Rural or CAR. This national system requires landholders to submit maps of their property boundaries and report how much forest remains on their lands. Overlaps between maps suggest potential disputes or weak governance – and, as the study found, higher rates of deforestation.

Between 2009 and 2018, properties without boundary overlaps showed 1 to 3 percentage points less deforestation than those with overlaps. Secure properties were also 5 to 11 percentage points more likely to comply with the Forest Code, depending on their previous land use. Even among legally titled properties, the presence of overlapping claims erased many of the environmental benefits of land ownership.

“This shows that land titling alone isn’t enough,” Schons said. “What really matters is the confidence that your rights will be respected and that society, and the state, recognize and enforce them.”

The findings underscore a key policy insight: governments and conservation organizations should look beyond titling programs to strengthen local land governance. Building institutions that can clearly define, monitor, and uphold land rights, from community councils to environmental agencies, may be more effective in the long term than issuing new titles alone.

The research team noted that the implications reach far beyond the Amazon. Around the world, from tropical forests to rural landscapes, property rights shape how people use and care for natural resources. Secure tenure encourages stewardship and long-term investment, while uncertainty breeds short-term exploitation.

“Property rights are the foundation for both environmental protection and economic development,” Schons said. “If we want policies like carbon markets or payments for ecosystem services to work, we need to know who is responsible for the land, and that those rights are actually protected.”

As the Amazon faces renewed deforestation pressures, the study offers a clear lesson: protecting forests starts with protecting the people who have the rights, and the responsibility, to manage them.

Original study: DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2025.107233