Ranching is now the biggest cause of deforestation in the Amazon and every year, more and more forest is destroyed to make way for huge cattle herds. ! In the last 20 years, Costa Rica has lost the majority of its forests to cattle ranching.

Brazil has the largest cattle herd in the world – a staggering 205 million animals!! It has been the biggest exporter of beef on the planet since 2003, and almost 80% of the deforested land in the Brazilian Amazon is now used for cattle ranching.

Alarmingly, the Brazilian government is aiming to double its share in the world beef market to 60% by 2018, whilst also aiming to reduce deforestation by 72% by 2017 as  part of a national action plan to combat climate change.! Achieving both goals at once would seem to be pretty much impossible.! Incredibly, an area the size of Portugal (about 10 million hectares) of rainforest was cleared between 1996 and 2006 in the Mato Grosso region of Brazil to make way for the huge cattle herds.

Diminishing returns

As we know, rainforest soils lose their fertility quickly once the forest is removed.! Initially, you need about one hectare per cow per year, but after about eight years, you will need five hectares for each cow, as the soil gradually becomes poorer and less able to produce the pasture! needed by the cattle.! So the ranchers simply move on, destroying yet more of the forest in the process.! As a rough guide, for every pound of beef produced for the world markets, 200 square feet of rainforest is destroyed.