The goal of this study was to assess the accuracy of deforestation maps produced by the National Institute for Spatial Research (INPE) and the Rondônia State Secretariat of Environmental Development (SEDAM) for the state of Rondônia between 2001 and 2011. Our results show that the deforestation mappings conducted by SEDAM and PRODES-INPE present similar Kappa coefficients, which were estimated at 0.89 and 0.87, respectively. The deforestation datasets prepared by PRODES and SEDAM show a decrease in deforestation rates in Rondônia state in the study period. However, there was a significant increase in illegal deforestation (approximately 400% within the protected areas) in this period. Based on the deforestation trend observed in the past decade, we can affirm that forests inside protected areas are the main targets for deforestation in Rondônia state.
remote sensing; land use and land cover changes; Amazon Forest