Improvement from Cattle Ranching Companies

Map Courtesy from: http://photos.mongabay.com/06/causes-of-amazon-deforestation.jpg

Brazilian cattle companies have made tremendous progress in mapping their supply-chains in the Amazon, however they are slacking on their promise of zero deforestation in the region. The cattle companies signed the agreement last October. Under the agreement the companies were to register and map all ranches supplying cattle from the Amazon directly to slaughterhouses by April 1, 2010. This would make it possible to assure consumers that cattle products were not the result of deforestation. The major companies, Marfrig and Minerva, failed to the terms, and both requested a 3 month extension. The companies have agreed to map and register their indirect suppliers by November 2011.

According to Greenpeace, the deforestation for cattle ranching is still occurring. They state, from October 2009 to January 2010, 140 kilometers of forest have been destroyed in slaughterhouse areas.

"Cattle ranching is the biggest driver of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. In recent years cattle pasture has been the fate of about 80 percent of deforested land, making ranching the single largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Brazil. Brazil is now the world's largest producer and exporter of beef. Its herd in the Amazon is nearly the size of the entire U.S. herd", Rhett Butler, mongabay.com said.

James Cameron visits Manaus

Photo Courtesy: http://image3.examiner.com/images/blog/wysiwyg/image/James_Cameron_2.jpg

American film director, James Cameron took a trip down to Manaus recently to take a deeper look into the Belo Monte hydro electric dam project. Cameron is concerned for the people living near the dam, he says it will end their way of life. He is trying to get the Brazilian government to reconsider the project.

After tacking the problem of environmental destruction in Avatar, Cameron is now adding his own voice to the cause of the rain forest preservation. Belo Monte would be damaging to the environment; if constructed, the project would divert 80 percent of the flow of the Xingu River drying up the lifeline of tens of thousands of people who depend on the local water supply. Despite widespread opposition, the Brazilian authorities recently approved Belo Monte's environmental license and consortiums will bid on the project in April.

Photo Courtesy: latimesblogs.latimes.com/.../lion-tamarin.html

There are many endangered species due to the deforestation of the Amazon, but one primate stands out today. The golden-headed lion tamarin survives in only a single protected reserve in the largely degraded Atlantic forest in Brazil (mongabay.com). Some are found in unprotected patches threatened by urbanization and agricultural expansion. Today, a natural gas pipeline is being built right through the monkey's habitat. Activists are trying to find forest large enough to house populations of the tamarin.

Less than 7 percent of the original Atlantic Forest remains. What does that mean for the golden-headed lion tamarin? Researchers only found four areas of land big enough to house the tamarins in. But still disease and fire can take place. Sadly, the researchers expect deforestation to continue in the region. Shade-grown cocoa, a good habitat for golden-headed lion tamarins and many other species, is also threatened to be cleared for plantations given the low price of cocoa (mongabay.com).

Is Livestock Bad for the Environment?

Photo courtesy: http://advocacy.britannica.com/blog/advocacy/wp-content/uploads/new-image.JPG

Most people do not think about livestock contributing to the greenhouse gas crisis. I was surprised how much impact they had.

Livestock production has increased dramatically over the last thirty years, due to the massive demand for meats. Meat used to be known as a "treat" to have in a meal in different parts of the world, but now people eat it all the time. According to mongabay.com, two recent studies looked at the global impact of the livestock industry, one alleges that its environmental impacts in relation to greenhouse gas emissions has been overestimated, while the other takes a holistic view of the industry's environmental impact.

The first study questions livestock's share of emissions: According to Dr. Frank Mitloehner, from the University of California-Davis, meat-eating does not cause high amounts of carbon emissions. This is based on faulty data, at least in terms of comparing the importance of cutting down meat consumption to making the transition from fossil fuels to green energy.

He doesn't suggest that we cut down on meat and diary, that will only end badly for poor countries. Instead the industrialized world must focus on the way it produces and consumes energy. He advises that "the developed world should focus on increasing efficient meat production in developing countries where growing populations need more nutritious food. In developing countries, we should adopt more efficient, Western-style farming practices to make more food with less greenhouse gas production."

The second study still thinks livestock is the problem: While livestock is not the biggest cause of greenhouse gas emissions, it does put a large strain on the environment. Some examples are pollution, water-consumption, deforestation, and land-use. According to "Livestock in a Changing Landscape, a report by scientists, "livestock impact on land-use is massive. Currently, a quarter of the world's land is used for 1.7 billion livestock animals. This ongoing shifting from wild lands to pasture has impacted biodiversity and ecosystems worldwide. For example, cattle ranching in Brazil has led both directly and indirectly to deforestation in the Amazon rain forest".

Amazonian Experts Argue BU Press Release

A few days ago Boston University issued a press release on a scientific study about the Amazon's resilience to drought. The press release stated that the study had exposed the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's) theory that climate change could turn approximately 40 % of the Amazon into Savannah due to declining rainfall. According to Mongabay.com, nineteen of the world's top Amazonian experts have issued responses to the press release saying it was "misleading and inaccurate".

The study was about how the forest's level of greenness had not changed during the 2005 year drought. It was originally published in Geophysical Research Letters. It wasn't the study itself that upset Amazonian experts, but the press release, 'New Study debunks Myths about Amazon Rain Forests'. Th experts say there is no myth, only evidence that the forests are very susceptible to drought stress. To prove this the experts cite a recent study that found a "large surge" in tree mortality in 2005 that was consistent with the results of two experiments showing tree mortality after rain reductions.

The scientists say that the fact that climate change could 'flip' large portions of the Amazon, approximately 40 percent, into savannah, was not only accurately reflecting the research of the time, but "has been reinforced by new studies."

Native Brazilian Interview- Rafaela Faria

As I mentioned, I had to start this blog for a school assignment; our assignment was to pick a country and a current communicational issue present there. I have always loved Brazil. I have never been there, but my dear friend Lindsay Imwold resided there for a few years with her family and has shared many memories with me. The next part of my assignment was to interview a native of my chosen country.

Rafaela Faria, age 21, is a current Student at Flagler College, studying Business Administration. I meet her at a local student’s party in St. Augustine. I loved her outlook on life, and how fun she was, so when the assignment arose, I knew exactly who I wanted to interview.
Faria grew up in Florianopolis, Santa Catarina which is located in the south of Brazil. She says it is the fourth most visited Brazilian city, and is nicknamed “The Magic Island”. Her childhood was wonderful; she played in the street with her neighbors and like many American children enjoyed video games. When she was seven she discovered her passion, soccer.

Her passion for soccer led her to the U.S. In 2005, Faria played against an American team in Brazil. The coaches loved her skills, and asked her to come to America and play for their school, Charlotte High School. The exchange program paid for everything. “It was a surprise and unique opportunity for me, because soccer was paying for an exchange program that my family could not afford”, Faria said. After spending only one year in America, she returned to Brazil and graduated from High school. She attended Federal University of Santa Catarina for two years before transferring to Flagler College.

Faria’s impressions of the U.S. were similar to most people who have not ventured here, McDonalds, Disney World, Las Vegas, Coca Cola, President Bush, and war. “These were always words I associated with the U.S.”, Faria said. After she came, she was thrilled to see how the U.S encourages sports in high schools and colleges. She found that true is that Americans eat too much fast food, which I also agree.

Faria’s entire family lives in Brazil. Unfortunately their financial condition doesn’t allow them to visit her at Flagler. “It is one of my dreams to show them my dorm, the beautiful Flagler campus, visit my ex-America host family, watch me play soccer here… for now I share this with my own descriptions and pictures I take”, Faria said. She often thinks about returning home, she loves Florianopolis, her and her friends have realized there is no place on earth like it. It is not just the nature and beauty that make Florianopolis special, but the people greatly affect the city as well.

Brazil is very diverse and is divided into five regions, each having a different beauty, culture, and economy. Faria wishes Americans knew more about this. “People there are so nice, share great hospitality, and are always happy. Our music reflects this happiness as do our parties, especially Carnaval Feijoada, caipirinha, samba…. Like the music says “I live in a tropical country blessed by God and beautiful by nature” (Pais Tropical by Jorge Ben Jor)”, Faria Said. Most Americans she has talked to think they speak Spanish in Brazil, when their language is Portuguese.

I asked her about the topic of my blog, deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon. She feels very sad because the Amazon has already lost an area equivalent to France. “It is the richest rainforest in the world, having a huge biodiversity but men are destroying it to develop agriculture, to explore illegal wood… this has to stop because Amazonia is the liver of Brazil as well as the world. This deforestation has to stop”, Faria said.

The 2016 Olympics will be hosted in Brazil. Faria is not only excited about the Olympics, but also that the 2014 Soccer World Cup will also be in Brazil. She says it will be great for Brazil’s economy. They will take advantage of the events to boost tourism and create more jobs to cultivate the economy.

Brazil and the US Sign Deforestation Agreement

Photo courtesy: www.berrygoodstuff4u.com/

Brazil and the United States have signed an agreement to work together to reduce deforestation in the rain forest. This agreement was arranged in early March as part of an effort to slow climate change as well.

On Wednesday March 3, 2010, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton signed the agreement in Brasilia. The agreement states that Brazil and the US will establish a Climate Change Policy Dialogue, which is a group that will meet once a year and work towards developing and implementing pragmatic solutions and policies for reducing emissions and development.

Because the US and Brazil have not seen eye to eye on efforts to reduce emissions from deforestation, this agreement is a wonderful outbreak and will hopefully prove to be significant. When the agreement was first suggested Brazil was not interested. “Brazil is not interested in giving industrialized countries cheap carbon credits from protecting the Amazon if they are not going to stop building coal-fired power plants”, says William Boyd, a professor at the University of Colorado. He has worked on REDD policy issues for some time.

Brazil feels that the US needs substantial reductions in our own industrial emissions, and now the two countries have altered their stances. The US has been talking to Indonesia, which is the world’s second largest deforester and biggest source of carbon dioxide emissions from land use change, about the REDD strategies and tactics.

What can be done to help save the Amazon?

Now for a more positive post. I wanted to write a post about what can be done to rehabilitate the rain forest. I think it is important for people to not only know what has caused the deforestation problems, but what can be done to help the Amazon. After researching, I have found two ways in which we can help regenerate some of the rain forest.

The first is to increase productivity of formerly forested lands. While concentration is needed on existing ecosystems, help is needed in already cleared areas. To narrow the chances of future forest loss we must increase and sustain the productivity of farms, pastures, plantations and scrub-land in addition to restoring species and ecosystems to degraded habitats. Improving already developed lands and reducing wasteful practices, additional land won’t be necessary to clear. Increasing productivity of cleared land is possible by using improved technology to generate higher yielding crops. Just by improving soil quality, large areas of the rain forest that have been cleared could be used to support agriculture. This could help reduce pressure on land used for agricultural. Terra preta soil, which is a soil that absorbs carbon dioxide, can be used to fight global warming.

The second step in saving the Amazon is habitat and species rehabilitation. Remarkable success has been made in restoring the population of the Golden Lion Tamarin in Brazil. The Golden Lion Tamarin lives in the Atlantic forest. . According to the World Wildlife Fund for Nature, the species has recovered "from a low of 200 wild animals recorded in the early 1970s to 1,000 wild birth in March 2001." Restoration of entire ecosystems have better chances of surviving in areas where parts of the original forest still remain and where few humans are active.

GOLDEN LION TAMARIN Photo courtesy of, subjecttochangeblog.wordpress.com/.../

According to Rhett A Butler, from mongabay.com “Small clearings surrounded by forest recover quickly and large sections may recover in time especially if we provide some assistance in the reforestation process. After several years, a once barren field can once again support vegetation in the form of pioneer species and secondary growth. Although the secondary forest will be low in diversity and poorly developed, the forest cover will be adequate for some species to return (assuming they still exist). In addition, the newly forested patch can be used for the sustainable harvest of forest products and low intensity logging”.

Rehabilitating and rebuilding secondary forests in the Amazon has wonderful possibilities for eliminating greenhouse gas emissions and the new lands can attract ecotourists and sustain some native forest wildlife.

Below is a Bird Tower at the Tiputini Biodiversity Station in the Amazon, where you can see above the canopy. Photo courtesy of http://blogs.iesabroad.org/erin-korris/the-amazon/

Illegal Logging

Photo courtsey of planetsave.com/blog/2008/11/

Logging is one of the most prominent and well-known forms of deforestation in the Amazon. While there are many logging techniques and international awareness, logging is still illegally practiced. According to mongabay.com, in the 1990s the Asian logging companies began aggressively moving into rain forest areas, after going through the country’s own timber stocks. In China there is a need for wood, due to a construction demand. The country has recently invaded Africa, the Amazon, Burma, and Indonesia for logging purposes.

Brazil has enforced more authority to try to prevent future illegal logging; however the country does not have enough law enforcement. Not only is logging damaging to the area under destruction, but the areas surrounding are damaged. Wildlife and plants are destroyed mostly due to logging roads. Corruption is also a main concern with logging. The corrupt officials make the existing forestry laws unenforceable, and have consideration for the environment or the locals. Research has found a high correlation between logging roads and consumption of bushmeat. Bushmeat are wild animals that are hunted as food and sold illegally.

Not only are trees being cut down for wood, but selective trees, usually endangered tree species, as well. Loggers will only take one or two valuable tree species from an area. A study conducted by scientists from The Carnegie Institution at Stanford University determined that selective logging creates twice as much damage. A single tree that is cut down can bring down dozens of surrounding trees, because of vines connecting the group. Trees also protect bottom level organisms with their canopies.

Brazil is working toward increasing the monitoring of logging in the rain forest and raising fines for those caught illegally cutting trees. According to the Greenpeace website, environment minister Marina Silva said the country will hire 100 forest engineers to oversee logging and agricultural projects in the Amazon region, after firing 84 earlier this year on corruption related charges.

Slavery in the Amazon

Photo courtesy from : www.flickr.com/photos/28488531@N08/3535380017

Violence is present in daily lives no matter where one resides. The Amazon is no exception. According to an article on mongabay.com, violence has been present in the rain forest since the arrival of European explorers. Today there is just as much violence due to slavery and competition over land. Most of the conflicts are between large landowners, poor colonists, and indigenous groups.
Land battles in Brazil's countryside reached the highest level this year than in the last 20 years. According to the annual report by The Pastoral Land Commission, a nongovernmental group, documented conflicts over land among peasants, farmers, and land speculators rose to 1,801 in 2004 from 1,690 in 2003 and 925 recorded in 2002. In the latest high-profile trial with the slaying of Dorthy Stang, an American nun who worked with the rural poor, by a gunman associated with plantation owners. The Brazilian government responded to this murder by sending in an army to put a halt to violence in the region and promised to step up environmental monitoring efforts.
The government has been actively trying to reduce violence by increasing efforts to end slavery. Brazil abolished slavery in 1888, but the government still acknowledges that at least 25,000 Brazilians work under slavery-like conditions, they clear land and perform intensive work for cattle ranches, soy farms, and other labor-intensive industries. Thankfully in 2005, Brazilian style SWAT teams freed 4,133 slaves after raiding over 183 farms.

Wildlife of the Brazilian Amazon

The Brazilian Amazon is home to more species of plants and animals than any other global ecosystem on the earth. Thirty percent of the world's species are found in the rain forest. In a single bush you can find more species of ants than in the entire British Isles! Four hundred and eighty species of trees can be found in 2.5 Acres.

MAMMALS:

300 species are found in the Amazon, the majority is made up of bats and rodents.
The capybara is the world's largest rodent, which can weigh 200 pounds.
Sloths, anteaters, and armadillos are common to find here.

Giant Anteater: http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.ventbird.com/system/photo/image/1735/standard/Giant_Anteater_by_A_Whittaker.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.ventbird.com/birding-tour/2007/10/31/brazil-emas-national-park&usg=__v487QkSLwrkCSbEODO-MISX3izI=&h=319&w=425&sz=37&hl=en&start=1&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=IohOt6lQSiuORM:&tbnh=95&tbnw=126&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbrazilian%2Banteaters%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26rlz%3D1I7DKUS_en%26tbs%3Disch:1
Capybaba:http://rainforests.mongabay.com/amazon/mammals.html

BIRDS More than 1500 species of birds are found in the Amazon Basin. Macaws are famous for gathering by the hundreds. The world's rarest bird is the Spix's macaw. Due to deforestation, only four birds remain in the wild.Spix's Macaw: http://rainforests.mongabay.com/amazon/birds.html

Macaws: http://rainforests.mongabay.com/amazon/birds.html

REPTILES Live animals are the fourth largest commodity in the smuggling industry. Drugs, diamonds and weapons are the leading commodities. Many of the reptiles located in the Brazilian Amazon are illegally collected and exported for international pet trade.

Photo: http://www.guitarfish.org/2007/08/23/amazon-trip-the-lizards-and-other-reptiles

Boa: http://rainforests.mongabay.com/amazon/reptiles.html

Farmers in Rondonia Contribute to the Increasing Destruction of the Amazon

According to news.mongabay.com, small scale farmers, who lease land from their government, can be accused for contributing deforestation to Rondonia, which is located in the Amazon area. The farmers have been receiving land since the 70s, sizing from a 247 Acres, from the Institute for Colonization and Land Reform as part of an agriculture project. The farmers seem to of broken the Brazilian Forestry Code, which states that only twenty percent of forest land can be cleared, while they are clearing fifty percent and increasing. Due to the agricultural projects, deforestation of the land has rose from 62 to 78 percent since 2002. Rondonia has recently become the a top milk producing city in Brazil. The agricultural project land houses calves for milk and for meat. Along with the Rain forest, the cows are also getting wiped out.

A new policy has come about to help with the reduction of land that farmers are clearing. The new policy states that the farmers have to report the percentage of forests in their land to the government. Once they report their percentage, the government will let them have more land as long as they stop deforestation. If the farmers break the treaty, they have to forfeit their granted land, and pay a fine. I think this policy will work great in reducing the amount of deforestation caused by the farmers. Everybody wins here, they receive extra land and we see a decrease in deforestation.

Photo taken from: http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.mnn.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/500x480/photos/rondonia.jpg&imgrefurl=http://blog.scs.sk.ca/greenemailsignatureinitiative/2009/10/&usg=__8lJ2N9TsXkCjeMulPhHWLb58YI0=&h=400&w=500&sz=29&hl=en&start=30&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=rZjBpSLl262UdM:&tbnh=104&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq%3Drondonian%2Bfarmers%26ndsp%3D18%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1I7DKUS_en%26sa%3DN%26start%3D18%26um%3D1

Cattle Ranching in the Rainforest

After thorough research, I have found the leading cause of deforestation in the Amazon Rain forest is cattle ranching. Ranching is usually done on a 1,000 or more acres of land, and hosts horses and cows that are raised and grazed on. Farmers started burning and cutting down parts of the rain forest in the 1970s, this gave Brazil the largest commercial cattle herd in the world.
"Since 2003, Brazil has topped the world's beef export charts and the government plans to double its share of the market by 2018" (Source).

Today, the situation is getting worse. According to CIFOR, "between 1990 and 2001 the percentage of Europe's processed meat imports that came from Brazil rose from 40 to 74 percent" and by 2003 "for the first time ever, the growth in Brazilian cattle production—80 percent of which was in the Amazon—was largely export driven."

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Some Rain forest activists have suggested that agricultural certification could help reduce clearing for cattle pasture. "Some environmental groups have opted to cooperate with landowners rather than continue to fight a losing battle. This type of cooperation originated with the logging industry, where furniture makers buying sustainably-harvested wood could hawk their environmentally friendly products to green consumers. Select ranchers are now working to adapt this approach to the agricultural industry which does even more harm to the rain forest than plain logging. One environmental group, the Nature Conservancy, announced an agreement where Cargill, a large agriculture company in the United States, will buy soya only from farmers who obey the Brazilian conservation laws or those working towards compliance" (Source).

In 2004 Alianca da Terra, which translates to land alliance in English, was put into play by American-born cattle rancher John Carter. Because of this organization, all Brazilian agricultural products carry a seal that reflects health, environmental and social standards. Alianca da Terra seeks market based solutions to slow the deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon. The alliance provides economic incentives to encourage farmers and ranchers in the rain forest to practice sustainable forest management. Some of the programs include a registry of landowners who practice sustainable forest management and a product certification for beef produced from environmentally friendly cattle ranchers. Since this organization has been in effect I hope it has greatly reduced the amount of land being cleared in the rain forest.

About My Blog

The deforestation of the Amazon is a major problem in Brazil. "Between May 2000 and August 2006, Brazil lost nearly 150,000 square kilometers of forest (an area larger than Greece)and since 1970, 232,000 square miles of Amazon rain forest have been destroyed" (Rhett A Butler). In tropical countries the deforestation can be result from cultivators, in Brazil only about one-third of recent deforestation can be linked to cultivators. A large portion of deforestation can be blamed on land clearing for pastureland by commercial and speculative interests, government policies, World Bank projects , and commercial exploitation of forest resources. Every week will be an update of the current situation of the Amazon along with facts and pictures about issues that go on there, such as, endangered species, crime, violence, and slavery.
Photo provided by http://travel.mongabay.com/brazil/images/brasil_085.html

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/35640.htm