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Deforestation for cattle pasture in Peru. (Photo by R. Butler)
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CATTLE PASTURES [Cattle ranching news]
The majority of the commercial destruction in the Amazon Basin from the 1960s to early 1990s was not due to logging or mining, but to cattle ranchers and land speculators who burned huge tracts of rainforest before planting the areas with African grasses for pasture. In Brazil, government figures attributed 38 percent of deforestation from 1966-1975 to large-scale cattle ranching. Cattle ranching has been even more widespread in parts of Central America, led by Costa Rica, which has one of the worst deforestation rates in Latin America. During the 1970s and early 1980s, stretches of rainforest were burned and converted into cattle pasture lands to meet American demand for beef.
In Central America, cattle pasture land set aside in the 1970s and 1980s was an especially poor choice because a large portion was located on the minority of fertile rainforest soils (volcanic and floodplain soils). For example, cattle pasture land in Honduras takes up over 40 percent of the country's fertile land. Cattle grazing in the tropics is relatively inefficient: initially each hectare of cleared land may support an animal, but after 6-8 years, each animal may require five hectares.
Nonetheless, cattle are an attractive option in Latin American rainforests. By simply clearing forest and placing a few head on the land, colonists and developers can gain title to the land in some countries (notably Brazil). They often choose cattle over other options because cattle have low maintenance costs and are highly liquid assets easily brought to market. Additionally, cattle are a low-risk investment relative to cash crops which are more subject to wild price swings and pest infestations.
Vast swaths of rainforest are cleared and used for cattle grazing in Latin America for land speculation purposes. The land tenure system in many countries promotes such conversion of land from a natural productive asset to a speculative one by wealthy landowners and speculators. When real pasture land prices exceed real forest land prices, land clearing is a good hedge against inflation, which has been rampant in many developing countries at times in the 1980s and 1990s (2,500 percent in Brazil in 1993, 13,340 percent in Venezuela from 1993-1998). In many cases, the growth of land prices is greater than inflation, making such land clearing a good investment regardless of the use of the land. Additionally, at times of high inflation, the appreciation of cattle prices and the stream of services (milk) they provide may outpace the interest rate earned on money left in the bank.
The above pie chart showing deforestation in the Amazon by cause is based on the median figures for estimate ranges.
Review questions:
- What is the largest source of deforestation in Latin America?
- Why do land speculators clear rainforest?
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Continued: Hydro, Pollution, Hunting
This article was written by Rhett A. Butler [bibliographic citation for this page] and was last updated on the most recent date listed in the column on the right side.
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Recent news
Brazil's development bank to require beef-tracking system to avoid illegal Amazon deforestation
(07/01/2009) Responding to allegations that major Brazilian cattle producers are responsible for illegal forest clearing in the Amazon, Brazil's development bank BNDES will soon require processors to trace the origin of beef back to the ranch where it was produced in order to qualify for loans, reports Brazil's Agencia Estado. The traceability program aims to ensure that cattle products do not come from illegally deforested land.
NASA images show huge drop in Amazon fires in 2008
(06/30/2009) New NASA research shows a sharp decline in the amount of smoke over the Amazon during the 2008 burning season, coinciding with a drop in deforestation reported last week by Carlos Minc, Brazil's Environment Minister. Analyzing the aerosol concentrations over the Amazon each September from the past four burning seasons using the Ozone Monitoring Instrument on NASA's Aura satellite, atmospheric scientist Omar Torres of Hampton University and several colleagues found a dramatic decline in airborne particular matter in 2008, indicating reduced incidence of fire in the region. Fire in the Amazon is primarily used by humans for land-clearing to establish cattle pasture, which now accounts for the vast majority of land-use change in the world's largest rainforest.
Tesco responds to allegations of causing Amazon deforestation
(06/29/2009) Tesco, one of Europe’s largest retailers, has sent a response to the British newspaper The Guardian in light of the paper's coverage of recent allegations that the chain store sells beef and leather products that caused deforestation of the Amazon.
Brazilian cattle giant declares moratorium on Amazon deforestation
(06/25/2009) Marfrig, the world's fourth largest beef trader, will no longer buy cattle raised in newly deforested areas within the Brazilian Amazon, reports Greenpeace. The announcement is a direct response to Greenpeace's Slaughtering the Amazon report, which linked illegal Amazon forest clearing to the cattle producers that supply raw materials to some of the world's most prominent consumer products companies. Marfrig was one several cattle firms named in the investigative report.
Amazon deforestation in 2009 declines to lowest on record
(06/22/2009) Annual deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon fell below 10,000 square kilometers for the first time since record-keeping began, reported Brazil's Environment Minister Carlos Minc. Yesterday Minc said preliminary data from the country's satellite-based deforestation detection system (DETER) showed that Amazon forest loss between August 2008 and July 2009 would be below 10,000 square kilometers, the lowest level in more than 20 years. Falling commodity prices and government action to crack down on illegal clearing are credited for the decline in deforestation rates.
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