Learn how the Brazilian government incentivized forest clearing in the Amazon for beef production and ranching
Learn how the Brazilian government incentivized forest clearing in the Amazon for beef production and ranching
Deforestation of the Amazon River basin has followed a pattern of cutting, burning, farming, and grazing. This process is then repeated on adjacent plots of land, steadily pushing back the borders of the Amazon Rainforest.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Deforestation of the Amazon River basin has followed a pattern of cutting, burning, farming, and grazing. This process is then repeated on adjacent plots of land, steadily pushing back the borders of the Amazon Rainforest.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.In Belize and elsewhere in Central America, deforestation has caused serious problems.
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Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, MainzOverview of the samba de roda, a traditional dance in Bahia state, Brazil.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Learn about how Brazil's population became one of the most diverse in the world.
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Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, MainzLearn about the cattle and butteri (cowboys) of Maremma, Tuscany, Italy.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Learn about the Amazon Rainforest's bewildering array of wildlife, including macaws, toucans, tyrant flycatchers, capybaras, jaguars, red howler monkeys, sloths, squirrel monkeys, tapirs, and caimans.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Damage to the Amazon rainforest caused by burning and cutting.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Traditional cattle raising in Botswana, Namibia, and Zimbabwe
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Shantytowns filled with gold miners in the Amazon River basin.
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Transcript
NARRATOR: From the 1960s to the 1980s, the Brazilian government offered incentives to both corporations and individuals to clear land in the Amazon.
The Amazon was viewed as territory to be conquered, settled, and developed, much as 19th-century Americans viewed the western United States. As the forest is cleared, the resulting timber is rarely used, and burning is the easiest way to be rid of it.
The land may be farmed for a few years until the soil is depleted, but the single largest use of cleared land in the Amazon and in Central America is beef production. Although ranching has long been practiced in southern Brazil, it has moved north into the Amazon only in recent decades. However, once the land is grazed, it is very difficult for the rainforest to return.
The Amazon was viewed as territory to be conquered, settled, and developed, much as 19th-century Americans viewed the western United States. As the forest is cleared, the resulting timber is rarely used, and burning is the easiest way to be rid of it.
The land may be farmed for a few years until the soil is depleted, but the single largest use of cleared land in the Amazon and in Central America is beef production. Although ranching has long been practiced in southern Brazil, it has moved north into the Amazon only in recent decades. However, once the land is grazed, it is very difficult for the rainforest to return.
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