(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
Recently published figures from the Brazilian authorities show that 2003 was the second worst year for the Amazon rainforest in the last fifteen years.
Overall, the period 2002-2003 was the worst since the logging of deforestation in the Amazon increased in 1989. 47.000 square kilometers, an area almost as large as Hedmark and Oppland, were destroyed during the two-year period.
This is stated in a press release from the Regnskogsfondet this week.
80 percent
According to the organization, Soya production is a growing threat to the Amazon. But it is still cattle farming that destroys most rainforest. Yes, figures from the Brazilian authorities show that as much as 80 percent of deforestation in the country is due to meat production, and the most important driver is meat consumption in the West.
- Regardless of whether the meat in the hamburger you eat comes from Norway or Brazil, the fast food piece is most likely a result of destroyed rainforest, says Jan Thomas Odegard, the Rainforest Fund's Brazil coordinator.
While Brazil's own meat consumption has previously accounted for most of the country's livestock growth, a new report from the International Center for Forest Research (CIFOR) shows that the export market is now growing the most. Brazil is today the world's largest meat producer.
The reason is that effective prevention of foot-and-mouth disease, combined with outbreaks of madness in the US and Canada, has given Brazil competitive advantage in the international market.
Soy Problem
But it is not just meat production that is the cause of the deforestation in the Amazon. Soy production also makes a strong entry into the rainforest, according to the Rainforest Foundation.
For example, the state of Mato-Grosso, a core area for growing soybeans, accounts for over 40 percent of deforestation last year. Over 10.000 square miles of rainforest disappeared in this state.
And just from this state comes almost all of Norway's soy imports, which are used in power feed and in foods such as soybean oil and margarine. The reason Norway imports from Mato-Grosso is the state's ban on genetically modified soy varieties.
- Although only a relatively small percentage of soybean production currently causes direct logging, the soybean industry contributes to deforestation by having to clear new areas for cattle farming and through increased requirements for road development. The roads give gold diggers, lumberjacks and farmers easier access to rainforest areas where they cause great damage to forests and wildlife, says Odegard in the Rainforest Fund.
