“Over 800 million trees felled to feed appetite for Brazilian beef”, 02 Jun 2023

More than 800 million trees have been cut down in the Amazon rainforest in just six years to feed the world’s appetite for Brazilian beef, despite dire warnings about the forest’s importance in fighting the climate crisis.

A data-driven investigation by TBIJ, the Guardian, Repórter Brasil and Forbidden Stories shows systematic and vast forest loss linked to cattle farming.

The beef industry in Brazil has previously pledged to avoid farms linked to deforestation. However, the new data reveals that 17,000 sq km of the Amazon was destroyed near meat plants exporting beef around the world.

The investigation ...continues the work of Bruno Pereira, an Indigenous peoples expert and Dom Phillips...

Researchers at the consultancy AidEnvironment used satellite imagery, livestock movement records and other data to calculate forest loss between 2017 and 2022 on thousands of ranches near more than 20 slaughterhouses. All the meat plants were owned by Brazil’s big three beef exporters – JBS, Marfrig and Minerva.

...All the meat plants exported internationally, including to the EU, the UK and China, the world’s biggest buyer of Brazilian beef...

Nestlé and the German meat company Tönnies, which had supplied Lidl and Aldi, were among those who had bought from the meat plants featured in the study...

Nestlé said two of the three meatpackers were not currently part of its supply chain, and added: “We may scrutinize business relationships with our suppliers who are unwilling or unable to address gaps in compliance with our standards.”

Tönnies said: “These Brazilian companies process many thousands of animals per year for export,” and claimed it was unclear whether the company had received products from plants linked to deforestation.

Lidl and Aldi said they stopped selling Brazilian beef in 2021 and 2022, respectively...

The investigation found that 13 meat plants owned by JBS were linked to ranches where there had been forest clearance, felling or burning. For Marfrig and Minerva, there were six and three, respectively...

In a statement Marfrig confirmed it had received cattle from Da Cunha, saying: “With every transaction it makes, Marfrig checks the status of the cattle supplying properties. At the time of slaughter, the farm in question was compliant with Marfrig's socio-environmental criteria, meaning that the property was not located in an area with deforestation, embargo, or forced labour, nor in a conservation unit or indigenous lands.”

It added: “Marfrig condemns the practice referred to as ‘cattle laundering’ and any other irregularities. All suppliers approved by the company are regularly checked and must comply with the mandatory socio-environmental criteria described in the company's current policy.”

Minerva said it “tracks the condition of the ranches, ensuring that cattle purchased by Minerva Foods do not originate from properties with illegally deforested areas; possess environmental embargoes or are overlapping with indigenous lands and/or traditional communities and conservation units”.

JBS queried the “buying zones” methodology used in the research and said that it blocked the São Pedro do Guaporé farm “as soon as any irregularity was identified”. When asked, it did not specify the date.