Brazil

Join our mailing list

A WILDER PLANET.

The goal of protecting Nature underpins all our work. It inspires and drives us to secure a future that allows life to flourish.

In Brazil, Mighty Earth has been working to transform the protein industry to ban deforestation and land conversion that threaten not just the the biggest tropical rainforest in the world, the Amazon, but also other unique biomes and ecosystems such as the Cerrado, a rich biodiverse savannah, and the Pantanal, a wetland considered a World Natural Heritage Site by UNESCO.

Agricultural expansion to rear cattle or to grow soy (to feed farm animals reared in intensive systems) is the biggest driver of deforestation in the Brazilian forests. Besides the alarming loss of biodiversity and pressure to Indigenous and local communities, forest loss is a direct cause of climate change. In a regular situation, forests help to slow the rate of climate change by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing it.

Responsibility for the destruction of ecosystems and climate pollution is highly concentrated among a handful of global companies – such as JBS, Cargill and Bunge. Mighty Earth believes that working to change the policies and approach of these industry leaders can spark a broader change in the industry and open political space for improved governance as well.

Around 20%

of the current known world’s biodiversity is hosted by Brazil.
Almost 50%

of the global primary tropical forest loss is caused by Brazil’s meat industry.
70%

of Brazil’s emissions are from agriculture. Deforestation and animal methane pollution are the main sources.
1.5 million tons

of meat are exported per year by Brazil, but more than 70% of Brazilian meat production is consumed domestically.

Our Work

Soy and Cattle Deforestation Tracker

Mighty Earth’s brings to light the obscured data connecting global meatpackers, soy traders and retailers to deforestation and land clearance in the Brazilian Amazon and Cerrado.

Learn More