In Ulianópolis, one of the Brazilian Amazon's most deforested municipalities, 76 percent of the land that was forested is now pasture, according to data from the government's Amazon Protection System. The information from Ulianópolis, in the northern state of Pará, confirms that cattle raising is the main activity behind deforestation.

The situation is repeated throughout the Amazon region, according to the coordinator of the non-governmental Center for Life Institute, Sergio Guimarães.

“Sixty percent of the deforested areas of the Amazon are destined for pastureland, and very rarely is the forest converted directly to agriculture, which nearly always expands in lands already cleared for livestock,” Guimarães explained to Tierramérica.

Often, cattle are used only for illegal possession of the land and real estate speculation. “The land itself produces much more than ranching in itself,” he said.