Help protect... forests We need forests. They store large
amounts of carbon dioxide, release oxygen, regulate climate,
prevent floods, protect soils and harbour millions of varieties
of plant and animal species. They are also home to thousands of
indigenous people whose livelihoods and ways of life are rapidly
being destroyed. How your diet can help Forests are being
destroyed not only to provide wood, paper and fuel but also to
provide land for grazing cattle and for growing crops to feed to
farmed animals. WRI assessments suggest that 20-30 percent of
the world’s forest areas have already been converted to
agriculture. As agricultural lands become more and more
degraded, most of the land for replacement and expansion comes
from the world’s forests. The expansion of agricultural land
accounts for more than 60 per cent of worldwide deforestation.8
Most of this land is used to graze beef cattle. The UN FAO
report Livestock's Long Shadow states that "By the year 2010
cattle are projected to be grazing on some 2