Post on 11-May-2015
description
Wildlife & Ecosystems threatened by the irresponsible
i fexpansion of soy© Staffan Widtrand / WWF
South America’s Atlantic Forest: As of 2000, less than 8% of the total original area of this region remained
© Michel Gunther / WWF-Canon
The golden lion tamarin, found in patches of the Atlantic Forest, is an endangered species with an estimated wild population of only approximately 1,500 individuals
© Juan Pratginestos / WWF-Canon
The white-tufted-ear marmoset lives in wooded savannah and on the edge of remnants of the Atlantic Forest
© Martin Harvey / WWF-Canon
The threatened red brocket, seen here in the Atlantic Forest
© Martin Harvey / WWF-Canon
Chaco: The Río de Oro (Gold River) in Argentina cuts through the largest dry forest in South America and is the continent’s most extensive forested region after the Amazon
© Vida Silvestre
The jaguar, also found in the Gran Chaco, is the largest cat in the western hemisphere, the top predator in lowland ecosystems, and an important figure in many indigenous cultures
© Michel Gunther / WWF-Canon
Amazon: About 1/2 of the planet's remaining tropical rainforests are found in this ecoregion
© Nigel Dickinson / WWF-Canon
An Amazon tree boa, hanging from a liana. At least 10% of the world's known species are found in the Amazon.
© André Bärtschi / WWF-Canon
Brazil’s Cerrado: a vast savannah the size of Mexico, brimming with natural life
© WWF
The maned wolf, one of the Cerrado’s emblematic species
© Martin Harvey / WWF-Canon
Listed as “vulnerable to extinction” on the IUCN Red List, the giant anteater is already considered extinct in some parts of Brazil
© Hartmut Jungius / WWF-Canon
44% of the Cerrado’s plant species exist nowhere else on Earth
© WWF
Around 300 of the Cerrado’s native plant species are used as food, medicine, handicrafts or for trade
© Juan Pratginestos / WWF-Canon
60 vulnerable animal species – 20 endangered and 12 critically endangered – struggle for survival in the Cerrado
© Michel Gunther / WWF-Canon
Cerrado savannah flower, Juruena National Park, Brazil
© Zig Koch / WWF
A road separates the Cerrado’s native savannah with a cleared area destined for a soybean plantation. Half of the Cerrado has been lost to agriculture as of 2012.
© WWF
The Cerrado is disappearing faster than the Amazon rainforest, mainly as a result of commercial agriculture – especially vast fields of soy
© Adriano Gambarini / WWF-Brazil
Original Cerrado
Conservation International 2002
Cerrado in 2002
Conservation International 2002
In addition to causing negative environmental impacts, the expansion of soybean agriculture also often displaces small-scale farmers
© Nigel Dickinson / WWF-Canon
The application of pesticides for soy cultivation is not without risk—agrochemicals could contaminate soil, and surface and underground water sources
© James W. Thorsell / WWF-Canon
Wirralwater / Creative Commons
Soy is exported from South America and elsewhere to meet a growing demand for feed, especially for chickens and pigs
On average, each European consumer eats 87 kg of meat and 250 eggs per year. To produce this, 400 square metres of land per person is needed.
© Steve Morgan / WWF-UK
jamesdkirk / Creative Commons
This is how our eating habits indirectly contribute to negative environmental and social impacts, including deforestation and biodiversity loss, in South America and other soy producing countries
Find out moref d / dwwf.panda.org/soyandyou