Benefits to the Planet
Brazilian cattle giants move toward zero deforestation in the Amazon
Brazilian cattle companies are making progress in their effort to map their supply-chains in the Amazon but are still falling short of their commitment to zero deforestation in the region, reports Greenpeace after a meeting at the Brazilian Association of Meat Exporters (ABIEC) in Sao Paulo.
Brazilian cattle giants last October signed a zero deforestation agreement following consumer uproar over a Greenpeace report that linked cattle products used in some of the world's leading brands to forest destruction in the Amazon. Under the agreement, the companies pledged to register and map all the ranches supplying cattle from the Amazon directly to slaughterhouses by April 1, 2010. The registry would make it possible to assure consumers that cattle products were not the result of Amazon deforestation.
But neither of the beef giants at the meeting met their commitment. Both Marfrig and Minerva asked for a three-month extension.
"Marfrig... reported that 80% of their suppliers operating in the Amazon has been registered, but the proper maps of the farms are still missing," reported Greenpeace on its web site. But both Marfrig and Minerva "reaffirmed their interest in cleaning up their supply chains."
Greenpeace also met with JBS — the world's largest slaughterhouse but no longer a member of ABIEC. JBS said that 80% of its Amazon production will be mapped by the end of April and asked for a three-month extension of the deadline.
The April deadline applies only to direct cattle suppliers. The companies have agreed to map and register their indirect suppliers by November 2011.
Greenpeace notes that deforestation for cattle ranching is still occurring despite the moratorium. It says that from October 2009 to January 2010 140 square kilometers of forest have been destroyed in "areas under direct influence of these slaughterhouses." The clearing accounts for 40 percent of all deforestation in the period.
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.
Volunteer Weekend in Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica
Are you in Manuel Antonio April 17, 2010? Well, the Eco Preservation Society is in Manuel Antonio that day and we are hosting a volunteer effort to help put a new face on our research center.
We invite anyone who is able to come to our research center that is in the heart of Manuel Antonio and help the Eco Preservation Society gear up for the summer months that are rapidly approaching.
Eating Like a Bird Helps Forests Grow
A new study examines complex interactions in the middle of the pyramid, where birds, bats and lizards consume insects. These predators eat enough insects to indirectly benefit plants and increase their growth, Smithsonian scientists report. "Our findings are relevant to natural communities like grasslands and forests, but also to human food production, as these insect-eating animals also reduce insect pests on crop plants," said Sunshine Van Bael, scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.
Previous theory on food webs suggested that the effects of insect-eaters on plants would be weak, because animals like birds not only feed on herbivores -- which is good for the plants- but may also benefit them by feeding spiders and predatory insects. If a bird eats a lot of spiders, for example, caterpillars could be "released" from spider predation and then consume more plant material. The authors found that previous theory did not hold true; in fact, the birds simply ate the spiders and the caterpillars.
U.N.: Rate of deforestation slows
Forests absorb and store greenhouse gases so deforestation can exacerbate mean the effects of climate change, said Mette Loyche Wilkie, coordinator of the assessment by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization.
Eduardo Rojas, assistant director-general for forestry, said the study of the last decade showed the first decrease in global deforestation since experts began tracking the phenomenon.
Saving the Rainforest Could Make Economic Sense
A landowner in Indonesia may soon find it more profitable to sell
carbon credits from untouched forest
than to clear the land for agriculture, according to new research. As a
case study, the researchers looked at 8.2 million acres that are slated
to become plantations in Kalimantan, the Indonesian region of the
island of Borneo. The researchers found that
paying to conserve the forest was more valuable than plantations as long
as poorer nations could earn between $10 and $33 for each tonne of CO2
saved. Currently a credit representing a tonne of CO2 sells for about
$20 in the European Union, which has the world’s largest greenhouse gas
trading system [The
New York Times].
