Wildlife & ecosystems threatened by the irresponsible expansion of soy

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


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


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


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


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

Wildlife & ecosystems threatened by the irresponsible expansion of soy

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