Grazing the Amazon

The Brazilian Amazon now reckons 85 million cows, three for every human dweller. In the 1970s, there were almost no cows and the rainforest was intact. Since then, a portion the size of France has disappeared, 66% of which transformed into pastures. Much of this change is a consequence of government incentives that attracted thousands of farmers from more southern lands. Nowadays, cattle ranching became an economic and cultural banner of the Amazon, forging powerful politicians to defend it. In 2009, there was a game changer: the Public Prosecutor’s Office sued large slaughterhouses, forcing them to supervise cattle supplying farms. (Ekotopfilm)