Ranching accelerates Amazon deforestation.

• Author: Prugh, Tom
• Position: Environmental Intelligence - Brief Article

Rising international demand for Brazilian beef is encouraging high rates of Amazon deforestation, according to the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), an Indonesia-based NGO. The area lost in 2002-2003 is expected to exceed 25,000 square kilometers, a plot the size of Uruguay.

Most of this land becomes pasture; according to CIFOR, nearly six times as much land is cleared for ranching as for crops. The cattle population has exploded in the Amazon from 26 million in 1990 to 57 million in 2002. The Amazonian herd now accounts for nearly one-third of all Brazilian cattle, up from 18 percent in 1992.

A widening share of this supply goes to overseas markets. Brazil's beef exports have roughly tripled in the last decade, driven by several factors. A major currency devaluation made Brazilian beef more affordable overseas. At the same time, problems with foot-and-mouth disease have mostly been solved, while other major beef...