agosto, 28 2015

The herds of Mato Grosso do Sul have 21 million cattle and correspond to approximately 10% of Brazil’s total cattle. Mato Grosso do Sul is the Brazilian state with the largest herd under a sustainable breeding system, located mainly in the Pantanal region. The transition from a stockbreeding culture with harmful practices in a delicate ecosystem to a responsible type of production is becoming possible, due to the work undertaken since 2004 by WWF-Brazil in partnership with the Brazilian Association of Organic Stockbreeding (ABPO), EMBRAPA-Pantanal, and the Working Group on Sustainable Stockbreeding (GTPS).

In the words of Edegar Rosa, coordinator of the Agriculture and Environmental Programme of WWF-Brazil, “It is fundamental to work with this commodity and try to combat its impacts on the environment, as stockbreeding is already using approximately 20% of Brazil’s territory”. He adds: “Since our mission is to preserve biodiversity and attain equilibrium between man and nature, stockbreeding based on good sustainable practices is an important alternative for the conservation of the Pantanal, which is a biome with an abundance of native pastures”.

In the 21st century, Brazil’s cattle herd became the second largest herd in the planet (behind India), and Brazil is now the world leader in meat exports. Internal meat consumption in Brazil has also increased to an average of 38 kilos per capita.

According to the FAO official data, South America is one of the regions with the largest meat production in the world, especially in Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Colombia, Ecuador and Bolivia. Together, these countries account for over 30% of the meat production worldwide. Edegar Rosa says that, “we are facing an unprecedented challenge. Until 2050, the global demand for food by the world’s population will increase by 70%, compared to the year 2000. Such expansion must take place, especially, in the form of a sustainable intensification of the stockbreeding production, considering that consumers are also increasingly searching for quality, pesticide-free food produced in a nature-friendly way”.

After ten years working with the meat chain, WWF-Brazil seems to be achieving good results, while helping preserve the 86% of the Pantanal that still remain. Ivens Domingos, WWF-Brazil expert in sustainable stockbreeding, states that other Latin American countries have also been successful in implementing good stockbreeding practices. Mr. Domingos highlights: “For this reason, it is important to have a joint effort”.

Driven by this context, on August 23-26, WWF-Brazil supported the workshop “Revision and finalization of the proposal of initiative of responsible stockbreeding in South America. The event was held at Pousada Aguapé – one of the pioneering farms that have been developing an environmentally conscious production in Mato Grosso do Sul.

The purpose of the meeting was to bring together representatives from Argentina, Colombia, Bolivia, Uruguay, Paraguay and the United States to deepen the knowledge on the responsible initiatives adopted by each country, and to understand how they can interact by means of an overarching programme capable of incubating all these regional actions, while respecting their specific characteristics.

The other side of the frontier

In Mr. Domingos’ words: “Some countries, sooner; other countries, later; but the fact is that all countries attending the event already have a stake in sustainable stockbreeding as an alternative to guarantee food security and, at the same time, nature conservation”.

In the experiences shared by the countries, the farms are following strict principles and criteria of production, which allow stockbreeding to become as natural as possible, while coexisting with the regional flora and fauna, and making rational use of natural resources in compliance of the environmental and labor laws.

In these cases, the protection of water springs, the prohibition both of fire to manage pastures and of chemical additives in food are mandatory. The welfare of animals must also be observed.

These practices are already more disseminated in Paraguay, where over 8 farms are following them. Yet, according to Angel Brusquetti Rolón, Sustainable Development Officer of Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS-Paraguay), “there are still many challenges to be overcome, among them, seeking support so that this activity may increase its scale. And this is a difficult task”.

The Coordinator of the project at WWF-Bolivia, Victor Hugo Magallanes, said that the political context in Bolivia has substantially changed over the past years, with the ascent of an Indigenous leader to the country’s presidency and significant improvements, especially in social issues. Yet, Mr. Magallanes stressed that “the environmental component must still be strengthened”.

The workshop participants confirmed that by introducing good practices, the farms are attaining enhanced results in terms of reduced cattle mortality, increased cattle birth, more precocious cattle maturity, and profit improvements. However, the representatives of Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Colombia and Argentina highlighted the need to expand the options of partnerships within and outside the Pantanal region.

Based on the positive results presented at the workshop, the next steps defined by the group are to scale up the pilot experiences, to establish internal and external partnerships, to conclude the planning, and to consolidate a regional sustainable stockbreeding program for South America.

An example of sustainable stockbreeding

Mr. João was born into a cattle-raising family in the Pantanal. He states that he has seen the substitution of Pantanal’s natural beauty by pastures, and that this is a very sad thing. He says: “I’ve always been concerned with valuing the culture and traditions of the Pantanal, and the best way to achieve this goal is by securing that stockbreeding – the main source of local income – can be implemented in a balanced and nature-friendly way”.

Farm São José and its tourism attraction, Pousada Aguapé, are located in the municipality of Aquidauana, at a distance of about 190 km from the capital of Mato Grosso do Sul. The farm has approximately 3 thousand hectares and over 2 thousand cattle. After a 10-year partnership with the WWF-Brasil, Seu João – who is also director of the ABPO – already produces enough meat to supply the state market.