In the Amazon, 75% of deforested areas in public forests became pastures for cattle, study shows

Brazil lost 21 million hectares of the Amazon between 1997 and 2020, according to a study by the Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM). In 23 years, the region known as Legal Amazon lost 8% of its public forests and 75% of the deforested areas became pasture, emitting 10.2 gigatonnes of CO2, the equivalent of five years of greenhouse gas emissions in the country.

According to Paulo Moutinho, from IPAM, land grabbing is “a risk factor for the planet’s climate balance” and has intensified over the last ten years.