Forestry Investment News
Soybean growing contributing to deforestation in the Amazon
18/09/2013
The growth of soybeans in Brazil continues to have a vast impact on the deforestation of the Amazon, despite easing following the moratorium imposed in 2006.
While conservationists the world over fight against the deforestation of the Amazon for cattle grazing and farming, the huge soybean growing sector in Brazil remains indirectly responsible for the felling of trees.
Second only to the US in terms of the production and exportation of soybeans, Brazil traditionally saw soybean growers taking over land that had already been deforested by cattle ranchers.
However, the moratorium imposed in 2006 following pressure from environmentalists across the country and beyond, saw Brazil’s main soybean exporters refrain from purchasing crops that had been grown on land that had been deforested. The move impacted the vast majority - 90 per cent - of Brazil's reported soybean exports, mainly to the US and Europe.
Bernardo Machado Pires, head of environmental affairs at the Brazilian Association of Vegetable Oil Industries, told News 24: “This drastically reduced our industry's impact on the Amazon.”
Conservationist at WWF Brasil, Michael Becker, told the news source: “Soybean continues to spread in the Amazon but the moratorium has slowed its frantic expansion.”
However, despite this step in the right direction, the continued deforestation of the Amazon to grow soybeans comes as a result of the fact that certain buyers have yet to sign the moratorium. Areas that were deforested after 2006 and used to grow soybeans increased by 57 per cent between 2011 and 2012, so although this was far lower than the 350 per cent rise noted between 2008 and 2009, it is still a notable increase.
Brazil has now laid out penalties that will be levied upon firms that produce soybeans on illegally deforested cleared land, or buy crops from it.
Marcio Astrini, co-ordinator of Greenpeace Brazil's Amazon protection campaign, told the news source that there was still work to be done: “This agreement shows that consumers no longer tolerate deforestation of the Amazon, but it does not control the indirect impact of soybeans on the jungle.”
While conservationists the world over fight against the deforestation of the Amazon for cattle grazing and farming, the huge soybean growing sector in Brazil remains indirectly responsible for the felling of trees.
Second only to the US in terms of the production and exportation of soybeans, Brazil traditionally saw soybean growers taking over land that had already been deforested by cattle ranchers.
However, the moratorium imposed in 2006 following pressure from environmentalists across the country and beyond, saw Brazil’s main soybean exporters refrain from purchasing crops that had been grown on land that had been deforested. The move impacted the vast majority - 90 per cent - of Brazil's reported soybean exports, mainly to the US and Europe.
Bernardo Machado Pires, head of environmental affairs at the Brazilian Association of Vegetable Oil Industries, told News 24: “This drastically reduced our industry's impact on the Amazon.”
Conservationist at WWF Brasil, Michael Becker, told the news source: “Soybean continues to spread in the Amazon but the moratorium has slowed its frantic expansion.”
However, despite this step in the right direction, the continued deforestation of the Amazon to grow soybeans comes as a result of the fact that certain buyers have yet to sign the moratorium. Areas that were deforested after 2006 and used to grow soybeans increased by 57 per cent between 2011 and 2012, so although this was far lower than the 350 per cent rise noted between 2008 and 2009, it is still a notable increase.
Brazil has now laid out penalties that will be levied upon firms that produce soybeans on illegally deforested cleared land, or buy crops from it.
Marcio Astrini, co-ordinator of Greenpeace Brazil's Amazon protection campaign, told the news source that there was still work to be done: “This agreement shows that consumers no longer tolerate deforestation of the Amazon, but it does not control the indirect impact of soybeans on the jungle.”
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