Over 800 Million Trees Felled To Feed Appetite for Brazilian Beef [View all]

JUNE 2, 2023

Authors:

Elisângela Mendonça
RAINFOREST INVESTIGATIONS FELLOW

Andrew Wasley
GUEST CONTRIBUTOR

Youssr Youssef
GUEST CONTRIBUTOR

Rob Soutar
GUEST CONTRIBUTOR

More than 800 million trees have been cut down in the Amazon rainforest in just six years to feed the world’s appetite for Brazilian beef, despite dire warnings about the forest’s importance in fighting the climate crisis.

A data-driven investigation by TBIJ, the Guardian, Repórter Brasil and Forbidden Stories shows systematic and vast forest loss linked to cattle farming.

The beef industry in Brazil has previously pledged to avoid farms linked to deforestation. However, the new data reveals that 17,000 sq km of the Amazon was destroyed near meat plants exporting beef around the world.

The investigation is part of Forbidden Stories’ Bruno and Dom Project. It continues the work of Bruno Pereira, an Indigenous peoples expert, and Dom Phillips, a Guardian journalist, who were murdered in the Amazon last year.

Deforestation across Brazil soared between 2019 and 2022 under President Jair Bolsonaro, with cattle ranching the number one culprit. The new administration of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has promised to curb the destruction.

Researchers at the consultancy AidEnvironment used satellite imagery, livestock movement records and other data to calculate forest loss between 2017 and 2022 on thousands of ranches near more than 20 slaughterhouses. All the meat plants were owned by Brazil’s big three beef exporters — JBS, Marfrig and Minerva.

More:
https://pulitzercenter.org/stories/over-800-million-trees-felled-feed-appetite-brazilian-beef