1A-Ranching

Ranching

//How Ranching is Causing Deforestion//

 * It is the biggest cause of deforestation in the Amazon rainforest and 80% of the deforested areas in Brazil are used for pasture (Greenpeace).
 * Ranches also use a large number of slave laborers.
 * As the cattle grazes the area, they eat the grass and plants in the area and the soil becomes compacted and is no longer sustainable.
 * The cattle ranchers then need to move to another area, destroying more of the rainforest and creating more unsustainable land causing a vicous cycle that keeps continuing.
 * Rancher use the rainforest because it's a cheap way to raise cattle and then export it to other countries such as the United States.
 * The demand for Brazilian beef has grown recently in the past few years due to control over diseases in Brazil (ex. foot-and-mouth disease), improvements and development of more roads into the forest, and how easy it is to gain title to land (which is to just clearing a part of the forest and placing some cattle there).
 * There is so much ranching occurring in the rainforest due to how much easier it is to own cattle and acquire the land than it is to own crops.
 * //A Company Involved in Deforestation//**
 * McDonald's is actively using the Brazil rainforest for their ranching purposes.
 * It enables them to acquire wealth by burning down the rainforest and then paying ranchers to come in and raise cattle.
 * The ranchers don't have a set minimum wage, as we do in the states, therefore they can be paid much less to work.
 * It also doesn't cost much for them to acquire land. All they have to do is burn down a part of the rainforest and then place cattle on the land, then later they can export the beef back to the United States

//Ways to Prevent Ranching From Causing Deforestation//
Don't eat or support places such as McDonald's, KFC, or Burger King. Before you go out to eat, research the restaurant and see whether they have ranches in the rainforest. Donate to an organization or cause that is actively trying to stop ranching in the rainforest, such as the Okapi Conservation Project.

**//Species Being Harmed By Ranching//**
Both the Okapi and the White-Bellied Spider Monkey are being harmed by the habitat loss caused by the deforestation from ranching. As the rainforest continues to be cut down, their habitat decreases making them vulnerable to extinction. Both are being harmed directly by ranching. The White-Bellied Spider Monkey, which lives in the Amazon rainforest in Brazil, is listed as Endangered with their populations still decreasing. The Okapi, which lives in the Congo rainforest, is listed as Near Threatened and their populations are seen as stable.

//Conservation Project//
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 * There are many projects that are raising money to help stop slash-and-burn and other ranching in the rainforest.
 * One current project, the Okapi Conservation Project, is specifically trying to top slash-and-burning in the Congo rainforest, in the Ituri forest.
 * It's led by the White Oak Conservation Center.
 * The goal of the project is to educate farmers into using less land and to keep the rainforest intact and the wildlife species safe, such as the Okapi which largely populates the area.
 * Organization website - [|www.whiteoakconservation.org]
 * Donate to the cause - []

//Works Cited//
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 * "How Cattle Ranches Are Chewing up the Amazon Rainforest." //Greenpeace UK//. Greenpeace, 31 Jan. 2009. Web. .
 * Butler, Rhett A. "Deforestation in the Amazon." Mongobay, 9 Jan. 2006. Web. 25 May 2011. .
 * Rhett, Butler A. "Greenpeace Accuses McDonald's of Destroying the Amazon Rainforest." Mongobay, 7 Apr. 2006. Web. .