Supporting Environmental Compliance and Stewardship amongst Soy Farmers

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Cargill has been supporting The Nature Conservancy in the Santarém region (Pará state) in Brazil to implement a project to help farmers comply with the Brazilian Forest Code, implement best management practices on environmental stewardship, and provide training in reforestation and restoration techniques.

The Brazilian Forest Code guides land use within the Legal Amazon. This rigorous law specifies that in forested areas, eighty percent of land must be preserved in natural vegetation cover, and in areas of Cerrado grasslands, thirty-five percent. Landowners may use their property for agricultural development but can do so but only if they obey Forest Code stipulations. Even with these established legal obligations, oftentimes poorly defined property rights and weak enforcement of the Forest Code means deforestation still occurs.

In partnership with Cargill, The Nature Conservancy conducted assessments and developed a database covering every individual property supplying Cargill with soy from Santarém and six neighboring municipalities – a total area of 96,256 square kilometers (9,625,600 hectares), which is slightly larger than the state of Indiana or more than twice the size of The Netherlands. The monitoring process identified exactly where deforestation had occurred and enabled a tailored plan to be put in place for bringing each property into compliance based upon its environmental status. It also allows restoration efforts to be assessed year on year.

To help farmers comply, The Nature Conservancy provides them on-the-ground support and training in reforestation techniques to help them restore areas that must be permanently protected according to the Forest Code. Specialists like local foresters and Brazil’s leading agricultural university – Escola Superior de Agricultura Luis de Queiroz (ESALQ) in São Paulo – are focused on ways to help farmers develop clear reforestation plans while keeping costs to a minimum.

The project has grown from 25 soy farms to over 330 soy properties totaling over 1,000 square kilometers (100,000 hectares) and has resulted in our decision to only purchase from local producers who have, or are working towards, full compliance with the Brazilian Forest Code.

Through our support to the Responsible Soy Project, we are encouraging farmers to comply and adhere with the Brazilian Forest Code and preserve, or where appropriate, renew, native vegetation cover in the Amazon.

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