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Deforestation for cattle pastureland near Puerto Maldanado. (Photo by R. Butler)
CATTLE and LAND SPECULATION
OVERVIEW
Clearing for pastureland and land speculation purposes is a major cause of tropical forest loss, especially in
Latin America. Cattle are an attractive investment for Amazonian farmers because they are a highly liquid capital
asset with low marginal costs once forest has been cleared. Cattle are used to establish land claims on otherwise
"unoccupied" rainforest land and can be used as a hedge against inflation.
Pastureland is usually cleared by the burning of secondary growth and land previously used for subsistence agriculture.
This burning is especially dangerous under dry conditions when fires can spread into neighboring old-growth rainforest
and cause considerable damage.
ACTIONS
Addressing forest degradation and clearing for pastureland is difficult, but important due to the severe soil leaching
and erosion under traditional grazing systems. Rainforest clearing for cattle can be immediately reduced by eliminating
tax incentives and land policies that encourage such activities. Productivity can be increased on existing pastureland
by introducing agroforestry techniques. Through intercropping—the strategy of planting perennial trees on pastureland—ranchers can diversify their income while reducing soil erosion and maintaining higher soil quality. At the
same time these patches retain considerably higher levels of biological diversity than bare fields. Livestock also
benefits from the shade and adds fertilizer to the base of the trees as they take refuge from the sun.
Such a system should be tested on small holdings before being applied to large pastures. While some problems are
foreseeable with such a system—notably the need for more management and fire control—it could be an important method for
conserving some biodiversity and forest function on pasturelands.
Can cattle ranchers and soy farmers save the Amazon rainforest? June 6, 2007
John Cain Carter believes the only way to save the Amazon is through the market. Carter is a Texas rancher who moved to the heart of the Amazon 11 years ago with his Brazilian wife, Kika, and founded what is perhaps the most innovative organization working in the Amazon, Aliança da Terra. Carter says that by giving producers incentives to reduce their impact on the forest, the market can succeed where conservation efforts have failed.
Saving the Amazon Rainforest Through Agricultural Certification June 3, 2005
A new certification scheme hopes to provide a link between producers and environmentalists by promoting standards of responsible practice that appease both sides. If the project goes as planned, all Brazilian agricultural products will carry a seal that reflects health, environmental, and social standards.
Review questions:
Why is cattle grazing popular in the Amazon?
What is intercropping?
How can the impact of cattle be minimized in the rainforest?
REDD in Colombia: using forests to finance conservation and communities in Colombia's Choco, a former war zone
(11/03/2009) Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD), a climate change mechanism proposed by the U.N., has been widely lauded for its potential to simultaneously deliver a variety of benefits at multiple scales. But serious questions remain, especially in regard to local communities. Will they benefit from REDD? While much lip-service is paid to community involvement in REDD projects, many developers approach local communities as an afterthought. Priorities lie in measuring the carbon sequestered in a forest area, lining up financing, and making marketing arrangements, rather than working out what local people — the ones who are often cutting down trees — actually need in order to keep forests standing. This sets the stage for conflict, which reduces the likelihood that a project will successfully reduce deforestation for the 15-30 year life of a forest carbon project. Brodie Ferguson, a Stanford University-trained anthropologist whose work has focused on forced displacement of rural communities in conflict regions in Colombia, understands this well. Ferguson is working to establish a REDD project in an unlikely place: Colombia's Chocó, a region of diverse coastal ecosystems with some of the highest levels of endemism in the world that until just a few years ago was the domain of anti-government guerillas and right-wing death squads.
Kenya's pain, part two: decades of wildlife decline exacerbated by drought
(10/20/2009) Not many years ago if you were planning a trip to Africa to see wildlife, Kenya would be near the top of the list, if not number one. Then violent riots in late 2007 and early 2008 leaving a thousand dead tarnished the country's image abroad. When calm and stability returned, Kenya was again open for tourism, and it's true that most travelers were quick to forget: articles earlier this year announced that even with the global economic crisis Kenya was expecting tourism growth. However, a new disaster may not be so quickly overcome.
Roads are enablers of rainforest destruction
(09/24/2009) Chainsaws, bulldozers, and fires are tools of rainforest destruction, but roads are enablers. Roads link resources to markets, enabling loggers, farmers, ranchers, miners, and land speculators to convert remote forests into economic opportunities. But the ecological cost is high: 95 percent of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon occurs within 50-kilometers of a road; in Africa, where logging roads are rapidly expanding across the Congo basin, the bulk of bushmeat hunting occurs near roads. In Laos and Sumatra, roads are opening last remnants of intact forests to logging, poaching, and plantation development. But roads also cause subtler impacts, fragmenting habitats, altering microclimates, creating highways for invasive species, blocking movement of wildlife, and claiming animals as roadkill. A new paper, published in Trends in Evolution and Ecology, reviews these and other impacts of roads on rainforests. Its conclusions don't bode well for the future of forests.
Prince Charles making progress in effort to save rainforests, says leading British environmentalist
(09/22/2009) Prince Charles of Great Britain has emerged as one of the world’s highest-profile promoters of a scheme that could finally put an end to destruction of tropical rainforests. The Prince’s Rainforest Project, launched in 2007, is promoting awareness of the role deforestation plays in climate change—it accounts for nearly a fifth of greenhouse gas emissions. The project also publicizes the multitude of benefits tropical forests provide, including maintenance of rainfall, biodiversity, and sustainable livelihoods for millions of people. But the initiative goes beyond merely raising awareness. Prince Charles is using his considerable influence to bring political and business leaders together to devise and support a plan to provide emergency funding to save rainforests. Tony Juniper, one of Britain’s best-known environmentalists and Special Adviser to the project, spoke about Prince Charles' efforts in an interview with mongabay.com.
