Summary
This policy memo addresses the development and expansion of the cattle ranching industry in Brazil, which has contributed to the mass deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon in the last 40 years. It exposes the regional and global consequences to deforestation and provides strategies for the Brazilian government to sustainably manage cattle ranching industries while protecting the future of the Amazon. The rainforest ecosystem is an immense reserve of natural recourses that is far more valuable than the beef produced on Brazilian cattle ranches. Not only does the rainforest create habitat for up to 65% of the world’s biodiversity, but when harvested sustainably, it provides humans with an abundance of spices, foods, oils, medicines and vital research areas (NEWMAN).
The world’s demand for cheap processed beef has given Brazil the rationale to convert valuable Amazon rainforest to low yield pastureland. Since 2004, Brazil has become the world’s largest exporter of beef, controlling 41% of the global meat exports (Valdes). Most of the beef produced on cattle ranches in Brazil is exported to countries like the UK and Russia (Valdes). Beef exports have elevated cattle ranching to the leading cause of deforestation in Brazil as it is now responsible for 60% of the deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon (BBC).
The introduction of cattle ranching industries in the 1960s set the forefront for current Brazilian rainforest deforestation figures. During this time, development subsidy programs encouraged Brazilians to clear rainforest for pastureland and invest in new cattle ranches (Pancheco). Over the last 40 years, Brazil has destroyed 700,00 square kilometers of rainforest, an area about the size of Texas (BBC) (Enchanted Lear...
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Mills, Scott L., Daniel F. Doak, and Michael E. Soule. "The Keystone-species Concept in Ecology and Conservation." BioScience 43.4 (1993): 219-25. Apr. 1993. Web. 30 Oct. 2011.
Pacheco, Pablo. "Agrarian Change, Cattle Ranching and Deforestation: Assessing Their Linkages in Southern Pará." Environment and History 15 (2009): 493-520. Web. 30 Oct. 2011.
Tomanio, John. "Our Dwindling Food Variety." National Geographic. 2011. Web. 30 Oct. 2011.
Valdes, Constanza. "Brazil Emerges as Major Force in Global Meat Markets." AmberWaves April (2006). Web. 30 Oct. 2011.
Wright, David, Heather LaRocca, and Grant DeJongh. "Global Problems." The Amazonian Rainforest: Forest to Farmland? The University of Michigan, 2007. Web. 14 Mar. 2014.
The Amazon Rain Forest Is in Danger of Being Destroyed" by Devadas Vittal. Rain Forests. HaiSong Harvey, Ed. At Issue Series. Greenhaven Press, 2002. Reprinted from Devadas Vittal, Introduction: What Is the Amazon Rainforest? Internet: http://www.homepages.go.com/homepages/d/v/i/dvittal/amazon/intro.html, November 1999, by permission of the author. http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/ViewpointsDetailsPage/ViewpointsDetailsWindow?displayGroupName=Viewpoints&disableHighlighting=false&prodId=OVIC&action=e&windowstate=normal&catId=&documentId=GALE%7CEJ3010021212&mode=view
Through 2002-2003 brazil has lost more than 24,000 Kilometers squared of the Amazon forest. Together is has been estimated that they have lost more than 500.000 of the Amazon forest. Brazil has decided not to just put their efforts into reducing the lost of the Amazon forest but also they are focusing on the already loss of the forest. Trying to see what and how that can utilize that area. To lessen future forest loss they are think that they must try and increase and sustain the productivity of their farms, pastures, plantations, and scrubland in addition to restoring species and ecosystems to the habitats that were destroyed or are currently trying to be preserved and extended. Brazil is also trying to restore their natural resources and rainforest by reducing wasteful land-use practices, while consolidating (making the best of) gains on existing cleared lands, and improving already developed lands they will try to diminish the need to clear any more rainforest. they are also trying to use our new age technology to generate higher yielding crops in the surrounding areas of this forest, regenerating the soil...
In “Battle for the Amazon,” Jeff Tollefson highlights the numerous regulations implemented by the Brazilian government to decrease deforestation and details the role of U.S. companies in the fight against land clearing in the Amazon basin. Tollefson states that major U.S. companies “could be held accountable for marketing illegal products” that have been extracted from deforested land (21).
Soulé, M., & Orians, G. (Eds.) (2001). Conservation biology: Research priorities for the next decade. Washington, D.C.: Island Press.
After researching about the deforestation of the Amazon, I came across some statistics and information that really shocked me. Rhett Butler stated that “60-70 percent of deforestation in the Amazon results from cattle ranches while the rest mostly results from small-scale subsistence agriculture. Despite the widespread press attention, large-scale farming (i.e. soybeans) currently contributes relatively little to total deforestation in the Amazon. Most soybean cultivation takes place outside the rainforest, in the neighboring Cerrado grassland ecosystem, and in areas that have already been cleared. Logging results in forest degradation, but rarely direct deforestation.
The negative impact on the environment of the planned human expansion is tremendous. It has been estimated that 10 million hectares of the Amazon forest have been destroyed due to clear-cutting, burning, slash-and-burn agriculture and conversion to pastures. Deforestation is caused mainly by road construction since 74% of the converted areas is within 50 km of roads.1 This clearly shows that frontier expansion and colonization for economical and social reasons has a devastating effect on the environment. The Brazilian Amazon is the largest piece of undisturbed rain forest and, unfortunately, this natural treasure is being damaged very carelessly and at an extremely high rate.
- Bush meat is making its way into Europe in large quantities and is even found in ethnic markets in the UK
Costa Rica lost more than one-third of its rainforest during the booming 20th century to cattle ranching, agriculture, and logging. Since the 1990’s, when it had one of the worst deforestation rates in the Americas, 26% of its territory has been protected, and it has increased its forest cover to over 50%.1 By pursuing a number of bold conservation policies, by establishing and managing national parks and reserves, and by promoting ecotourism, the country has reversed this trend of deforestation. In fact, Costa Rica continues to combat encroaching forces of development successfully, now serving as a leading practitioner of afforestation, reforestation,
Nowadays deforestation is the one of the most important and controversial environmental issues in the world. Deforestation is cutting down, clearing away or burning trees or forests. Particularly tropical rainforests are the most waning type of forests because of its location in developing countries such as Indonesia, the Philippines, India, central African countries and Brazil. Deforestation rate in those regions is high enough to worry about, because of large economic potential of forest areas. As the result of causes such as agriculture land expansion, logging for timber, fire blazing and settling infrastructure there might be serious impacts in future. For instance, extinction of endemic species of animals and plants which will be feral, increase of greenhouse gas emissions which may lead to global warming and consecutive catastrophes, destruction of home for indigenous residents which is considered as violation of human rights. Some people can argue with these drawbacks telling that deforestation have more valuable benefits such as growth of economics, production of food and providing better opportunities for life for poor families. However, these benefits are quite temporary and government of that countries and world organisations tries to halt deforestation proposing several solutions. Deforestation problem is especially acute in the Brazilian Amazon, where its rate is much high comparing with other regions. This paper will describe world-wide rainforests, causes and effects of deforestation, and evaluate possible solutions of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon.
Conversion of the tropical forest into cropland and pasture began a long time ago in Ecuador, before their secession from Spain. Their major crop was cocoa, which was grown along the waterways to be exported out as their main source of trade. Due to the fact that after World War II expansion accelerated throughout the northwestern section of the forest, a highway system was put into construction. At this point in time, the Ecuadorian Amazon consisted of a few small towns that had been established in valleys and at the base of the mountains. Indigenous g...
Keystone species are species that have a strong impact on their community, without this species the community would collapse. The presence of a keystone species allows for an environment to function properly. Tiger sharks are a keen example of a keystone species. “These sharks will eat practically anything. This helps control populations of sea turtles and dugongs who may cause overgrazing of the seagrass in Western Australia.
Amazonian soybeans come with a carbon debt of 319 years (Food for Thought). If production continues to grow in the rainforest, sustainability depends on farming being kept out of old growth ecosystems. Production causes soil compaction. This destroys the air pockets making the land unable to absorb water, which creates serious erosion problems (Lowery). In “Bolivia, ...
Felsinger, Alex. "80% of Amazon Deforestation Stems from Cattle Ranching." PlanetSave.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2013. .
Although subsistence activities have dominated agriculture-driven deforestation in the tropics to date, large-scale commercial activities are playing an increasingly significant role. In the Amazon, industrial-scale cattle ranching and soybean production for world markets are increasingly important causes of deforestation, and in Indonesia, the conversion of tropical forest to commercial palm tree plantations to produce bio-fuels for export is a major cause of deforestation on Borneo and Sumatra.