Can Forests Be More Profitable Than Beef?

Forest Restoration Is Creating a Buzz in the Amazon  The New York Times

Can Forests Be More Profitable Than Beef?

Can Forests Be More Profitable Than Beef?

The Potential of Forest Restoration in the Amazon Rainforest

The residents of Maracaçumé, an impoverished town on the edge of the Amazon rainforest, are mystified by the company that recently bought the biggest ranch in the region. How can it possibly make money by planting trees, which executives say they’ll never cut down, on pastureland where cattle have been grazing for decades?

“We are killing pasture that a lot of farmers need,” said Josias Araújo, a former cowboy who now works in reforestation, as he stood on a patch of soil he was helping to fertilize. “It’s all strange.”

The new company, which is also Mr. Araújo’s new employer, is a forest restoration business called Re.green. Its aim, along with a handful of other companies, is to create a whole new industry that can make standing trees, which store planet-warming carbon, more lucrative than the world’s biggest driver of deforestation: cattle ranching.

The Importance of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

It’s the holy grail of the forest economy. And now, it might be within reach.

The stakes are high. About a fifth of the great rainforest is already gone. And scientist warn that rising global temperatures could push the entire ecosystem, a trove of biodiversity and a crucial regulator of the world’s climate, to collapse in the coming decades unless deforestation is halted and an area the size of Germany is restored.

Efforts Towards Forest Restoration

Josias Araújo, in a green shirt, sitting on a stack of bags in a field.
SDG 15: Life on Land 15.2: Promote the implementation of sustainable management of all types of forests Extent of sustainable management of forests 15.5: Take urgent and significant action to reduce degradation of natural habitats Extent of reduction in degradation of natural habitats

Note: The specific indicators mentioned in the article are not explicitly stated but can be inferred based on the targets and the issues discussed.

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Fuente: nytimes.com

 

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