Brazil's Cattle Guardian Programme tackles deforestation

By the end of this year, 110,000 cattle farms in the Brazilian state of Para will employ satellite monitoring through the national Cattle Guardian Programme (Programa Boi Guardiao) introduced in December 2009.

This initiative of the Ministry of Agriculture aims to reduce Amazon deforestation caused by cattle ranching. Since the end of 2009, the project has monitored approximately 15,000 properties in six municipalities in Para, where nearly four million cattle are raised.

Under the Cattle Guardian Programme, electronic permits for animal transit (GTA) will only be issued on the condition that cattle are raised in non-deforested areas.

The verification is monitored through satellite surveillance. GTA permits include information on sanitation and are mandatory for the transport of animals between properties, municipalities, states, slaughterhouses, or to other countries for export. By the end of 2010, the programme will monitor the entire states of Para, Rondonia, and the Amazon region within the state of Mato Grosso. With over 18 million cattle heads, Para is the fifth largest cattle producer in the country.