NEWS CENTER – Research by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ), the Guardian, Repórter Brasil and Forbidden Stories shows that 1.7 million hectares (4.2 million acres) of the Amazon has been destroyed near meat plants that export beef around the world.
Deforestation in Brazil increased during the period of President Jair Bolsonaro from 2019-2022, and the number one reason for this was cattle farming. The new administration of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has promised to stop the destruction.
Using satellite imagery, animal movement records and other data, researchers at the AidEnvironment consulting firm calculated the estimated forest loss over the six years between 2017 and 2022 at thousands of farms near more than 20 slaughterhouses.
The study found that more than 800 million trees were cut for meat production. Among the customers of the companies that cause forest loss are the German meat company Tönnies, which supplies Lidl and Aldi.
In 2020 our agency shared the current analysis:
