Los Angeles Times - 04.10.2019

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(800) LA TIMES

Founded Dec. 4, 1881

Vol. CXXXVIII No. 305

LOS ANGELES TIMES (ISSN 0458-3035)

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biggest driver, responsible
for 80% of the deforestation,
according to the Yale School
of Forestry and Environ-
mental Studies.
The failure of the moni-
toring agreements illus-
trates the limits of environ-
mental activism and the ne-
cessity of political will if the
Amazon is to be saved. Ex-
perts said the experience
shows that pledges and laws
amount to little if author-
ities are not dedicated to en-
forcing them and closing
loopholes.
Brazil produces more
beef than any other country
except the United States
and export more than any-
where else, sending 20% of
its production to Hong
Kong, China, the European
Union and several smaller
buyers.
The Brazilian company
JBS, the world’s largest
meatpacker with more than
$50 billion in annual reve-
nue, counts Walmart and
Costco as major clients.
Its cattle suppliers in-
clude tens of thousands of
ranches in the Amazon,
making the company by far
the most important player
in the 2009 promise by meat
processors to cut ties to
ranches involved in defor-
estation.
The company became
Exhibit A in what appeared
to be a dramatic success. It
cut off business with thou-
sands of ranches after its
monitoring systems flagged
them.
By 2013 just 4% of Ama-
zon-based suppliers to JBS
and other meatpackers in
the Para agreement could be
linked to deforestation —
down from 36% before the

measures took effect, ac-

cording to a study by re-

searchers at the University

of Wisconsin and the Brazil-

ian nonprofit Imazon.

More broadly, cattle be-

came easier to trace, be-

cause the tens of thousands

of ranches that supplied the

slaughterhouses covered by

the Para agreement regis-

tered their properties with

the state government. The

vast majority had never had

a legal deed to their land.

Now they could be

tracked in real time using

satellite imagery and publi-

cly available databases of

geographic data.

Brazil has touted the

statistic that the rate of

deforestation fell 70% be-

tween 2005 and 2012.

But most of that drop oc-

curred before the ranch-

monitoring deals took effect

and could be attributed to

declining commodity prices,

which reduced incentive to

clear forest for grazing and

soybean cultivation. The

leftist government in power

at the time also made envi-

ronmental conservation a

priority, designating 150 mil-

lion acres of rainforest as

protected land and stepping

up efforts to arrest and fine

violators.

The monitoring agree-

ments suffered from two ma-

jor problems.

First, the Para state deal

covers only the slaughter-

houses owned by the meat-

packing companies that

signed on to it.

That means that of the

157 slaughterhouses in the

Amazon, roughly half — re-

sponsible for the killing of

18,000 cattle a day, or 30% of

beef production in the re-

gion — have no checks on

their cattle supplies, accord-

ing to Imazon.

“Those who signed defor-

ested less, but unregistered

farms had a much higher de-

forestation rate than ex-

pected,” said Paulo Barreto,

the lead researcher at the

nonprofit. “So it eventually

neutralized, and the net ef-

fect of the deal ended up be-

ing null.”

The second problem is

that there is no guarantee

that beef from the approved

ranches is actually rainfor-

est-friendly.

JBS and other big meat-

packers are required to

monitor only their direct

suppliers — and not the

ranches and fattening farms

that frequently supply those

suppliers. Experts said it

has become common prac-

tice for dirty ranches to

“launder” their cattle

through ranches that have

been deemed clean.

A recent third-party au-

dit found that in 2016 JBS

slaughtered 85,000 cattle

that came from areas the

government determined

were illegally deforested.

The following March, the

Brazilian federal govern-

ment fined JBS nearly $

million and shut down two

slaughterhouses after an in-

vestigation found the com-

pany was buying cattle from

ranches illegally carved out

of the forest. As a result,

Greenpeace said it could no

longer recommend that

companies such as Walmart,

Costco and Nike do business

with JBS. “We consider the

Brazilian cattle sector as a

whole to be high risk for

companies who want to be

clear of deforestation be-

cause of the problem of indi-

rect suppliers,” said Daniel

Brindis, the forest campaign

director for Greenpeace

USA. “It’s still a black box

where many of the cattle are

coming from.”

The global companies

have continued to do busi-

ness with beef and leather

producers in Brazil. Rather

than threaten another boy-

cott, some have taken the

less confrontational ap-

proach of trying to work with

the beef industry and vari-

ous nonprofits in hopes of re-

ducing deforestation.

Walmart, for example,

has set up a “Brazil Beef

Monitoring System” and

asked its suppliers there to

“source and use only beef

that has been produced with

zero net deforestation” no

later than the end of 2020.

That may be too opti-

mistic. A joint investigation

published this year by the

Guardian, Reporter Brasil

and the Bureau of Investiga-

tive Journalism found that a

farm operating near Sao Fe-

lix do Xingu in the state of

Para was raising cattle on il-

legally cleared forest and

then laundering them

through legal fattening

farms, which sold to JBS.

In a statement, JBS de-

fended its operations and

maintained that it does not

buy cattle from farms linked

to deforestation.

“The JBS Amazon moni-

toring system covers more

than 280,000 square miles,

an area larger than the state

of Texas, and assesses more

than 50,000 potential cattle

suppliers every day,” the

company said in a state-

ment. “When a noncompli-

ance with our policies is

identified, we take decisive

action.”

JBS has acknowledged,

however, that it has no way

to monitor indirect suppli-

ers.

The United States and

Canada track cattle using a

system that requires ranch-

ers to affix an ear tag with a

microchip to every cow

shortly after birth, at a cost

of a few dollars per animal.

Brazil has never had the

political will to institute such

a system, and the chances of

it happening anytime soon

appear low.

The new president, Jair

Bolsonaro, was elected in

large part for his nationalist

views, including the com-

mon belief that Brazil

should be free to develop the

Amazon as it sees fit. This

summer, as fires raged, Bol-

sonaro refused to accept $

million in international aid

to help put them out. He de-

clared such assistance a

form of colonialism.

Moreover, worldwide de-

mand for beef continues to

grow as China and other de-

veloping countries get

richer.

The United States has

banned fresh beef imports

from Brazil since 2017, when

a Brazilian investigation

that found food inspectors

had taken bribes to falsify

sanitation records.

But that ban could soon

be lifted after a tentative

promise from President

Trump to start accepting

Brazilian beef pending a U.S.

government audit.

U.S. Department of Agri-

culture inspectors visited 12

Brazilian slaughterhouses

in June but have yet to re-

lease their findings.

Still, Jordan Timo, a cat-

tle rancher in Para, said he

remains optimistic that it’s

not too late to save the Ama-

zon.

His own story shows that

change is possible. In the

mid-1990s, he recruited 200

men to clear the jungle that

became his ranch.

But after the 2009 agree-

ments, Timo started a com-

pany called Nice Planet,

which contracts with beef

producers to verify their

suppliers are clean, to the

extent that’s possible.

Ultimately, he said, the

fate of the forest will be

determined by market

forces.

“If there’s not a commit-

ment from consumers, and

not just in Brazil, but around

the world, to seek out beef

that’s sourced ethically, then

farmers here will continue to

seek out the easier path, and

right now that’s deforest-

ation.”

Hyde is a special

correspondent. This article

was supported by the

Pulitzer Center on Crisis

Reporting.

Meat ranches

still pose the

biggest threat

to Amazon

MORE THAN 70,000 fires this year — most set by farmers and ranchers to clear land — have drastically ac-

celerated the pace of deforestation in the Amazon. Cattle ranching remains the biggest driver of deforestation.

Vincent BevinsFor The Times

[Brazil,from A1]

A VEHICLE transports illegally harvested wood in

Apui, Brazil. With 17% of its forests gone, scientists

warn the Amazon could begin turning into savanna.

Fernando BizerraEPA/Shutterstock

Wayne Fitzgerald obitu-

ary: In the Oct. 2 California

section, the obituary of

Wayne Fitzgerald referred to

Warren Beatty as the direc-

tor of “Bonnie and Clyde.”

Beatty produced and

starred in the film. Arthur

Penn was the director.

Santa Barbara: In the

Sept. 29 Travel section, an

article about visiting Santa

Barbara affordably listed in-

correct times for free docent

tours of the Santa Barbara

County Courthouse. Tours

begin in the mural room at

10:30 a.m. weekdays and 2

p.m. daily.

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