UNSUSTAINABLE CATTLE RANCHING IS DEFORESTING BRAZIL.

One of the largest sources of tropical deforestation/species destruction in the tropics, is cattle ranching, soy farming and palm oil plantations and the over concentration of many of these industries in some tropical countries.

Clearing/logging-out tropical rainforest to create temporary/artificial grasslands for cattle, in tropical forest areas, is highly destructive to tropical topsoil, rivers and biodiversity and not sustainable. Cattle should be raised in areas where grasslands and grazing animals occur NATURALLY. 

After tropical rainforest is cleared to create cattle ranches and soy farms, the heavy year-round tropical rains washes away the topsoil, which was once protected, for millions of years, under the forest canopy. The intense year round tropical sun then scorches and dries out the topsoil, further increasing erosion/soil run-off into local rivers and streams. As the eroded soil, heavy metals and farm chemicals caused by ranching, soy farming, mining and forest-clearing washes into rivers, it then suffocates fish and buries fish eggs. 

This eroded soil and debris then washes down rivers and out to coastal areas, burying and killing corals and other coastal sea-floor life.The temporary grasslands/farmlands created by clearing tropical forest then becomes quickly degraded and un-farmable, forcing the ranchers and farmers to clear-out even more rainforest to maintain profits/farming. In the process, Amazon Indians are forced out of their forested homelands and often killed by individuals who are likely paid by the cattle ranchers, soy farmers and timber cutters who wish to silence Indians/Indigenous complaints, or claims to land. The Indians main source of protein......river fish, becomes increasingly scarce and their forced to migrate even deeper into the remaining jungle to find clean river-water and fish......and to avoid being murdered. 

A similar scenario has been unfolding in Indonesia and Malaysia, the problem there is legal and illegal logging and PALM OIL PLANTATIONS......in particular, the extremely high CONCENTRATION of palm oil plantations in these two southeast Asian countries....which is rapidly deforesting both countries and heavily impacting indigenous people there, who are heavily dependent on forests and river fishing. Palm oil is used in processed foods and biofuels for cars and trucks. Although palm oil is native to many tropical countries, high concentrations of palm oil plantations are extremely destructive.

A solution to this is to lobby government and corporate leaders to regulate the purchase of palm oil, and to mandate that companies DIVERSIFY the sources which they buy palm oil from. An example of this would be to buy 5% of your palm oil from Indonesia, 5% from Ghana, 5% from Malaysia, 5% from India, 5% from Honduras, 5% from Brazil, 5% from Thailand etc. Palm Oil can be grown in any tropical country on earth, there is no reason for it to be so highly concentrated in Indonesia and Malaysia, where these countries are now being stripped of their millions of year old tropical forests/species for short term profit. Industry diversification/diversified buying can also be applied to other highly polluting/destructive industries.

Buying cheap sun-grown coffee also contributes to deforestation/species destruction. Buying fair trade/organic/shade grown coffee greatly reduces this destruction and gives significant benefit to coffee growing communities. This coffee is also called "bird coffee" because it can be grown beneath the forest canopy and does not require forest clearing.

After researching these issues write a short note/summary of one, or all, of these issues....and politely ask your Senators and House members and request legislative action/debate which addresses these environmental ills and the corporate neglect of large food companies, which is driving it. Ask them to identify these companies and call for hearings investigating the levels of environmental and human destruction which are being caused by these various giant national and international food conglomerates. You can also research and identify these companies on your own, and write letters directly to these companies through their corporate websites/contact links. Also contacting and writing a letter of concern to the U.N., who has a presence in almost all of these countries and often is involved in projects promoting sustainable development. Many of these impoverished tropical countries have poorly funded and un-developed Environmental Protection Agencies, so they are unable to police or regulate these large companies/plantations without outside advice/council and aid.

U.S. SENATE CONTACT LINKS FOR ALL 50 STATES: 

http://www.theorator.com/senate.html

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVE CONTACT LINKS FOR ALL 50 STATES:

http://www.theorator.com/government/house.html

UNITED NATIONS (U.N.) DEPT. OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT CONTACT LINKS:

http://www.un.org/esa/dsd/dsd/dsd_contact.shtml

LINKS CONCERNING DEFORESTATION IN BRAZIL/CATTLE:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deforestation_in_Brazil

http://planetsave.com/2009/01/29/80-percent-of-amazon-deforestation-stems-from-cattle-ranching-2/

http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/features/cattle-mapping/

http://news.mongabay.com/2009/0909-amazon-cattle-ranching.html

http://e360.yale.edu/feature/controlling_the_ranching_boom_thatthreatens_the_amazon/2176/

LINKS CONCERNING DEFORESTATION FROM PALM OIL PLANTATIONS (SOUTHEAST ASIA):
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/11/southeast_asia_palm_oil.php

http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/campaigns/forests/forests-worldwide/paradise-forests/palm-oil/

http://news.mongabay.com/2006/0425-oil_palm.html

http://e360.yale.edu/feature/sustainable_palm_oil_rainforest_savior_or_fig_leaf/2345/

LINKS CONCERNING SHADE GROWN COFFEE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shade_grown_coffee

http://shadecoffee.org/shadecoffee/Coffee/AboutShadeCoffee.aspx

http://www.coffeehabitat.com/2006/02/what_is_shade_g/

http://eartheasy.com/eat_shadegrown_coffee.htm


PHOTOS OF TROPICAL FOREST CLEARING FOR PALM OIL:

http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?_adv_prop=image&fr=ush-mailn&va=palm+oil+deforestation
PHOTOS OF TROPICAL FOREST CLEARING FOR CATTLE (BRAZIL): 

http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=A0PDoTDwV5ROGV0ADOeJzbkF?p=brazilian+deforestation+cattle+photos&fr=ush-mailn&ei=utf-8&n=30&x=wrt&tab=organic&y=Search