Amazon Deforestation in Google Earth

Large-scale soy farming in Brazil pushes ranchers into the Amazon rainforest

The research, which looked at soy and cattle dynamics in the southern Amazon stats of Mato Grosso and Pará, supports the claim that soy is an important indirect driver of deforestation in the world's largest rainforest.

The authors — including Elizabeth Barona, Navin Ramankutty, Glenn Hyman and Oliver Coomes — analyzed annual census data on deforestation, crop harvest area, livestock population, and pasture area between 2000 and 2006 from municipalities in the Brazilian Legal Amazon. Their analysis found that deforestation shifted 39 km to the northeast during the period, while pasture shifted 87 km to the northwest, from northeastern Mato Grosso to southwestern Para, and soybeans moved 82 km to the northeast, from southern to northeastern Mato Grosso. The researchers also noted that soybean expansion was accompanied by a decline in pasture area in many municipalities in Mato Grosso, lending support to the argument that "decreases in pasture in Mato Grosso owing to soybean expansion may have been compensated by increases in pasture elsewhere in northern Mato Grosso, Para and Rondônia causing some deforestation indirectly, i.e., 'displacement deforestation.'"

Palm oil under attack

It’s the vegetable/oil fat listed in the ingredients of many products in the supermarket. The oil’s use is increasing as manufacturers steer away from oils that contain trans fats, by 8 to 10 percent a year, according to industry statistics.

But a United Nations report this year noted that some forms of palm oil production are done on low-lying, carbon-rich peat land, which can result in the release of enormous amounts of carbon dioxide, the key culprit in global warming.

Norway to give Guyana up to $250M for rainforest conservation

Under the terms of the agreement, signed today, Norway will put $30 million into Guyana's "REDD+" development fund. Subsequent payments — up to $250 million in total — would be contingent of Guyana's ability to avoid future deforestation. Guyana's deforestation is presently negligible, but the country has argued that proposed development projects could lead to an increase in logging and conversion for large-scale agriculture and plantations. It says the development fund will be used for sustainable development projects and climate change adaptation measures.

“We want to avoid the high-carbon development trajectory that today’s developed world followed,” said President Bharrat Jagdeo in a statement. "It will be impossible to defeat climate change if we don’t significantly reduce tropical deforestation. We said several years ago that the people of Guyana stood ready to play our part in determining how this can be done. We are delighted to work alongside Norway in searching for solutions that align the development aspirations of our people with the urgent need to protect the world’s tropical forests.”

"Through this partnership, we are building a bridge between developed and developing countries," added Norway's Minister of the Environment and International Development Erik Solheim. "We are giving the world a workable model for climate change collaboration between North and South. It’s not perfect, but it's good, and it will be improved upon as we learn and develop together."