More than 60 percent of deforested areas of the Brazilian Amazon
forest are used for grazing cattle, while only five percent is
used for agriculture, a new government study said. From research
of satellite imagery, Brazilian officials found of the 719,000
square kilometers (277,000 square miles) cleared up to 2008, a
whopping 62 percent was left as just grass, and that the use
amounted to on average one cow per hectare, roughly the size of
a football field. "Having less than one head of cattle per
hectare is unacceptable," said Environment Minister Izabella
Teixeira in comments quoted by the Brazilian press Saturday.
"It's a waste, because the forest is being replaced by something
that does not generate income or growth," she lamented. While
five percent of the land goes to agriculture, some 21 percent is
effectively abanonded and left to its own regeneration. Brazil,
which has jurisdiction over most of the Amazon, the world's
largest rainforest, has committed to drastically reduce
deforestation by 80 percent