Nearly 60,000 hectares of forest was cleared in Brazil’s Cerrado and the Amazon in late 2023, with likely ties to the supply chains of some of the world’s largest soy exporters, including Bunge and Cargill, a report has found.

An investigation by environmental organisation Mighty Earth showed that deforested areas were located within 50 kilometres of the grain silos of seven major soy traders – Amaggi, ADM, ALZ Graos, Bunge, Cargill, Cofco, and LDC.

“It’s shocking that we’ve detected nearly 60,000 ha of deforestation in soy supply chains in Brazil,” said Alex Wijeratna, senior director at Mighty Earth.

“Our analysis suggests that the big soy traders still don’t have full control of their operations, with some refusing to acknowledge the risk and cut ties with bad actors.”

The organisation carried out satellite-based analysis and on-the-ground investigation, focusing on farms that produced soy in the 2022 harvest.

According to the report, 26,901 ha in the Cerrado and 30,031 ha in the Amazon were cleared between Sep. and Dec. 2023, with the states of Mato Grosso, Maranhao, Tocantins, Piaui, and Bahia experiencing the bulk of deforestation.

“Of particular concern is the soy expansion in the Cerrado, where deforestation and conversion are out of control, pushing Brazil’s most threatened biome ever closer to ecosystem collapse,” Wijeratna said.

“GREATER PROTECTION”

The Cerrado is the second-largest Brazilian biome, and one of the world’s most biodiverse regions. Covering 22% of the country, it is home to over 6,000 tree species.

However, over the last few years it has faced increasing rates of land conversion, mainly linked to soy and beef production.

While deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon fell by 66% in 2023, it surged to record levels in the Cerrado, up by 43% from 2022.

A separate study estimated that as much as 79 million ha of the Cerrado forest savannah will not be covered by the upcoming EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), which aims to ban the trade of commodities produced on deforested land.

The bloc’s law will apply to areas covered by “trees higher than five metres with a canopy cover of more than 10%”, though large portions of the Cerrado forest savannah do not fit these criteria.

“It’s crucial that the Cerrado is given greater legal protection in the upcoming review of the EUDR,” stressed Wijeratna.

UN Comtrade data showed that Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, France, and the UK imported nearly 11 mln tonnes of soy from Brazil in 2022.

According to separate data, Bunge and Cargill were among the major exporters to these countries in 2020, followed by ADM and LDC.

Mighty Earth urged the examined companies to disclose the origin of their soy products from Brazil, as well as the shares of soy sourced from deforestation and conversion-free supply chains.

Most companies denied any links to the farms examined in the report.

By Sergio Colombo – sergio@carbon-pulse.com

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