62 percent of the area deforested in the Brazilian Amazon until 2008 is occupied by cattle pasture, reports a new satellite-based analysis by Brazil's National Institute for Space Research (INPE) and its Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa). The research found that of 719,000 square kilometers or 17.5 percent of the Brazil had been cleared by 2008. 447,000 square kilometers of the area is used for cattle ranching, with an average density of 1.6 head of cattle per hectare, while 35,000 square kilometers (less than 5 percent) was occupied by industrial agriculture like soy. The state of Mato Grosso had the largest percentage of forest forest land converted for large-scale agriculture, with 15 percent.
62 percent of the area deforested in the Brazilian Amazon until 2008 is occupied by cattle pasture, reports a new satellite-based analysis by Brazil's National Institute for Space Research (INPE) and its Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa). The research found that of 719,000 square kilometers or 17.5 percent of the Brazil had been cleared by 2008. 447,000 square kilometers of the area is used for cattle ranching, with an average density of 1.6 head of cattle per hectare, while 35,000 square kilometers (less than 5 percent) was occupied by industrial agriculture like soy. The state of Mato Grosso had the largest percentage of forest forest land converted for large-scale agriculture, with 15 percent.
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The analysis concluded that more than 21 percent of the deforested is in the process of regenerating forest, either from natural recovery or the establishment of plantations.
For further information: http://news.mongabay.com/2011/0904-amazon_deforestation_causes.html
