AMAZON REPORT: A CONSERVATION SUCCESS
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July-August 2010
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SPECIAL SECTION: TOWARD A MORE SUSTAINABLE FUTURE Amazon carbon
credits p. 28
A more sustainable
cooking oil for
Walmart Brazil p. 30
Cargill water
AMAZON REPORT: conservation p. 34
A CONSERVATION SUCCESS
TOWARD A MORE SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
Green In the
Zone
SANTARÉM, BRAZIL
argill’s soybean terminal at the intersection
of the Amazon and Tapajós rivers in Brazil
isn’t one of the company’s largest facilities,
but it might be its best known. In 2006,
Greenpeace helped make it famous (or
Cargill’s work in the Amazon has
halted deforestation and has become
a model for the government’s
infamous) in its “Eating Up the Amazon”
conservation efforts.
report, charging that the terminal was BY PAUL DIENHART | PHOTOS BY PALANI MOHAN
driving deforestation. The global response
from consumers and customers ranged from concern to outrage.
Today, satellite imagery verifies that deforestation in the
region has halted, confirming the effectiveness of an industry
moratorium on buying soybeans from farmers engaged in defor-
estation—an initiative led by Cargill. A balancing of economic ac-
tivities with conservation pioneered by Cargill’s Sustainable Soy
partnership with The Nature Conservancy (TNC) has become a
model for state conservation efforts. And the terminal is expand-
ing to accept corn from local farmers.
Ultimately, the legacy of the terminal might be in showing the
way to effective conservation of the rainforest while providing eco-
nomic development to the people who live in the Amazon region. A small boat motors along the “meeting of the waters,”
Ian Thompson, who leads the Amazon projects of The Nature where the muddy Amazon and the clear Tapajós River meet
Conservancy, has a single slide that shows what is happening in in front of Cargill’s soybean terminal. Another meeting is
the area around Cargill’s Santarém terminal. Bars show slight taking place in balancing biodiversity with economic devel-
opment—a zoning effort inspired by the success of the Sus-
annual increases until 2008, when the bars go level.
tainable Soy project of Cargill and The Nature Conservancy.
“There has been zero deforestation in the Santarém area for the
past few years,” says Thompson, who presented the results of the
Sustainable Soy project at last year’s global climate conference in
Copenhagen. “Cargill has helped hold farmers to the rules.”
The conservation rules in the Amazon are some of the strict-
est in the world. Farmers must show an 80-20 balance in favor
of forest—even if the land they purchased was cleared many de-
14 CARGILL NEWS July-August 2010
A conservation officer
inspects the primary rain-
forest of Tapajós National
Forest, a 600,000 hectare
(1.5 million acre) preserve
near Santarém. Satellite
mapping pioneered by
Cargill and The Nature
Conservancy provides a
way to link existing second-
ary forests and create new
preserves for biodiversity.
Meanwhile, land opened
decades ago can be used
for economic activity in one
of the more impoverished
areas of Brazil.
July-August 2010 CARGILL NEWS 15
cades before. However, the government has lacked resources to
MONITORING SYSTEM
enforce Brazil’s Forest Code.
TNC PROJECT BEGINS
OPERATIONS BEGIN
Essentially, Cargill’s Sustainable Soy partnership with TNC
IMPLEMENTED
CARGILL PORT
provided on-the-ground assistance for farmers to work toward
compliance with the Forest Code. Just as important, Cargill
provided the incentive. Santarém farmers who deforested land
after 2006 could not sell their soy-
beans to Cargill, losing their only
5000— commercial market. Evading the
moratorium on deforestation was
impossible because satellite imag-
ing technology could detect even
4000—
small reductions in forest cover.
“In Santarém, we were able
to stabilize the deforestation in
six years. Some people thought it
might take 100 years,” says Benito
3000— Guerrero, TNC project director,
who has worked hundreds of San-
tarém-area farms since the Sustain- Lucyana Barros is a global
able Soy project began in 2004. imaging systems analyst at
2000— “I don’t know of any other com- The Nature Conservancy
office in Belem. Her computer
pany that is helping its suppliers get
screen (opposite page) shows
into compliance,” Guerrero contin- the Santarém area with soy-
ues. “This is the only state in Brazil bean farms outlined in orange.
where big business is active in fos- Resolution allows analysis
1000—
tering conservation of the Amazon. down to the level of the indi-
vidual farm, with secondary
Cargill confronted the problem and
forest showing up as green.
provided a solution—a system to
monitor suppliers and help them
0— get into compliance. The project has helped the government un-
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
derstand what is possible with satellite monitoring.”
TOTAL DEFORESTED AREA (KM2) IN SANTARÉM AND BELTERRA Today, 383 farms in the Santarém area are part of the Rural En-
Not long after Cargill and The Nature Conservancy began working on the vironmental Registry. This means all have been evaluated by TNC
Sustainable Soy project, deforestation in the Santarém area leveled off.
for compliance with conservation laws. Only these law-abiding
farms are qualified to sell soybeans to the Cargill terminal.
Since 2006, all the major soybean companies in Brazil have
renewed the moratorium on buying soybeans from farmers in-
volved in deforestation. In 2009, Brazil announced that Amazon
deforestation had dropped 45 percent in the past year—the larg-
est decrease in 20 years.
While some of the decrease was because of the global economic
downturn, Carlos Minc, Brazil’s former environmental minister,
felt comfortable making this statement: “Soya is no longer a signifi-
cant force in the destruction of the Amazon rainforest.”
A SCALE OF 1:125,000
At the TNC office in Belem, not far from where the Amazon River
pours into the Atlantic Ocean, Lucyana Barros brings up a Land-
sat photo on her computer. Thin orange lines designate the bound-
Cargill’s soy terminal in Santarém, the only local market for soybeans, aries of farms amid a patchwork of different shades of green and
refused to buy from farmers who cut secondary forest on their land. brown. Puffy white spots indicate clouds. The scale is such that it
Satellite mapping can detect even small losses of forest. is possible to make out individual buildings.
Every farm that supplies Cargill’s terminal is monitored from
space, making the Santarém soy farmers possibly the most close-
ly scrutinized farmers in the world.
16 CARGILL NEWS July-August 2010
“THIS IS THE MOST CLOSELY WATCHED REGION
IN THE WORLD. THERE IS NO DOUBT ABOUT IT.
IF YOU OPEN UP EVEN 1 HECTARE OF FOREST,
THE SATELLITE MONITORING OF TNC
AND CARGILL WILL FIND OUT.” PIO STEFANELO
Farmer
Santarém
“With satellite imagery, we can detect Benito Guerrero,
any deforestation immediately,” says ana- project director for The
Nature Conservancy,
lyst Barros. “If a potential problem is de-
stood on a charred log
tected, we visit the farm to confirm it.” behind some scraggly
Guerrero is the TNC employee most corn plants—the sign of
likely to do the farm evaluations. He re- slash-and-burn agricul-
calls one recent case where the satellite ture that is practiced by
poor people desperate
image caught a farmer who cleared an
to feed themselves.
area of legal reserve. TNC reported the Slash-and-burn is a
problem to Cargill, and the immediate greater danger to sec-
response was to refuse to buy the farm- ondary forests than the
er’s soybeans. operations of profes-
sional soy farmers.
Suddenly, the farmer had 3,000 metric
tons of harvested soybeans and no mar- RIGHT: Guerrero (right)
spoke to a conservation
ket. His first response was anger at TNC
officer in a canopy of
and Cargill. Then he agreed to hire a for- Tapajós National Park,
est engineer to restore the legal reserve primary rainforest
that had been destroyed (by squatters, the that towers above the
farmer claimed). patches of secondary
forest that soy farmers
Satellite monitoring started as part
are preserving.
of Cargill’s Sustainable Soy project with
TNC. “Eventually, Cargill and TNC will
back out and let the government take over the monitoring,” Guer-
rero says. “To be successful, we need the involvement of all par-
ties—Cargill, farmers and the government. The most important
change since this project started is government involvement.”
TNC now is an official partner with the government of Para, the
state where Santarém is located. It will provide a database and tech- ing public port, there were more than 100 non-governmental or-
nical support for Para to take over satellite monitoring. The moni- ganizations (NGOs) working in the city. Organizers painted both
toring will be a key tool for an approach that could revolutionize Cargill and the soy farmers as villains bent on destroying the
conservation of the Amazon—Ecological-Economic Zoning. rainforest to satisfy their own greed. The story resonated with
many locals because, indeed, Santarém has been subject to nu-
ZONING FOR CONSERVATION merous boom-and-bust cycles, including gold, rubber and even
For some people, conservation in the Amazon means that economic black pepper. Why should soy be any different?
activity is the enemy. It is a view that ignores that 23 million people About three years ago, the situation became so controversial
live in the Amazon biome, that cities like Santarém go back hun- that there was talk of the terminal closing—a fearful situation
dreds of years, that land cleared decades ago is unsuitable for regen- for hundreds of soy farmers who depend on Cargill as their only
erating forest, and that the majority of residents live in poverty. real market and on soy as the only crop offering a steady, global
By the time Cargill built the soy terminal at Santarém’s exist- market price.
18 CARGILL NEWS July-August 2010
Today, much has changed. Cargill is making plans to expand the its best use. Designating previously opened land for economic activ-
terminal and offer local farmers a market for their corn. And the ity can help conserve forest for biodiversity. If residents have a way
Sustainable Soy project has grown into Ecological-Economic Zoning to make a living, they are less likely to open rainforest.
that has been approved by both the state and federal governments. “Right now, there is a wall between environmentalists and
“Santarém was our school,” says the TNC’s Guerrero. “When agriculture producers,” says Fernando Costa, sustainability ad-
we started here, we didn’t even have an idea of what to do. This visor for Cargill. “This law will break that down. This could
wasn’t about conservation in books. We developed a strategy af- create a new era for cooperation on preserving the Amazon.”
ter we got here. Now, we think we have a model that will work Igor Galvão is coordinating the zoning project for the state of
for the entire Amazon—and that may be the biggest contribution Para. He confirms that the zoning grew out of the Sustainable
of the Sustainable Soy project.” Soy project that Cargill started in Santarém. In particular, the
The philosophy behind Ecological-Economic Zoning is that map- satellite mapping provided the technology to categorize land.
ping and categorizing land provides a way to make decisions about “The program has two objectives: fighting rural poverty
July-August 2010 CARGILL NEWS 19
“THIS WASN’T ABOUT CONSERVATION IN BOOKS.
WE DEVELOPED A STRATEGY AFTER WE GOT
HERE. NOW, WE THINK WE HAVE A MODEL THAT
WILL WORK FOR THE ENTIRE AMAZON—AND
THAT MAY BE THE BIGGEST CONTRIBUTION OF
THE SUSTAINABLE SOY PROJECT.” BENITO GUERRERO
The Nature Conservancy
while helping the state of Para manage its natural resources,” valuable to allow economic activity.”
Galvão says. “We want a balance—production that fits with The zoning plan is encouraging to Toni Filter, president of the
ecology. Zoning considers multiple factors, including existing Farmers Union in Santarém. “Society is starting to understand
forest, land use, geology and agricultural potential. Technical the importance of agriculture,” he says. “This city is 348 years
information is combined with socio-economic information and old. There have been more than three centuries of working the
can be layered on a map.” land around here. But of the 3 million hectares in this area, only
Mapping raises the possibility of linking conservation areas 1.7 percent is in agricultural land.”
to create much greater biodiversity than is possible with isolated Filter took personal offense when NGO organizers came to
patches of forest. the city to portray farmers as destroyers of the Amazon. The land
“This idea is intelligent trade-offs,” Guerrero says. “Where he farms was cleared decades before he arrived in the area. He is
biodiversity already is low, we see a potential for economic ac- proud of using precision agriculture techniques like satellite imagery
tivity. Likewise, we can identify areas where biodiversity is too and GPS systems for precise application of fertilizer and chemicals.
20 CARGILL NEWS July-August 2010
ity,” he says. “You will never be able to totally restore forests here.
What is gone is gone. We should concentrate on saving tropical
forest that needs to be protected.”
Suddenly, Guerrero pulls the truck to the side of the road and
hops out. “Here’s a jacaranda tree,” he calls, holding up a leaf the
size of a dinner plate. “It is a pioneer tree—one of the first species
in the ecological succession from degraded pasture land.”
Farther along, he stops by a grove of palm trees. “A grove like
this—what we call a shallow forest—indicates that a series of
fires burned here,” Guerrero says, getting out of the truck. Walk-
ing into a clearing in the grove, we find scraggly corn plants,
unevenly spaced, growing out of the charred ground. It is slash-
and-burn agriculture.
“Some poor people are growing food here for their own con-
sumption,” Guerrero explains. “They have no land, so they have
burned this area next to a legal reserve. The burning makes the soil
useful for three to five years, and then they will burn another plot.
“The traditional slash-and-burn agriculture is much more of a
threat to the forest than commercial soy farming. The profession-
al farmers now understand that preserving biodiversity is im-
portant to their business. Destroying forest
Fernando Pallaro destroys the market for their crops.”
grew up in a poor The road finally brings us to the farm of
family in southern Pio Stefanelo, one of the most progressive
Brazil. Pooling their soybean farmers in the Santarém area. Sit-
money, his family
sent him north to
ting on his porch, Stefanelo speaks in Por-
start a farm where tuguese. His sons listen intently and occa-
land is still afford- sionally assist with the English translation.
able. He meets the Both boys are planning to study agronomy
legal requirement of in the United States before returning to
having at least half
his land in forest,
Brazil to farm.
and he is registered “Soy is the only crop here that offers a
with The Nature stable price,” Stefanelo says. “Some of the
Conservancy to sup- people here who were originally against
ply Cargill. Today, he Cargill have begun to understand that ag-
and his wife and two
children have an eco-
riculture is the only way to improve the
nomic future grow- economy. In some ways, Cargill took the
ing soybeans on land role of government in creating new rules
cleared decades ago for conserving the forest.
for cattle ranching. “If you ask some farmers, they will say
that the Sustainable Soy program is hor-
rible. They are missing the benefit. The
“Farmers take pride in respecting the land. There is plenty of world is watching us, and we cannot sell our crop unless we
open land to farm without destroying rainforest,” Filter says. respect the environment. If export markets believe we are de-
stroying the rainforest, they will not buy our crop. These are our
A JACARANDA TREE customers.
Driving the bumpy roads outside of Santarém that he knows like “This is the most closely watched region in the world. There
the back of his hand, Benito Guerrero keeps up a steady com- is no doubt about it. If you open up even 1 hectare of forest, the
mentary about the sights we are seeing. The TNC project manag- satellite monitoring of TNC and Cargill will find out. This is the
er has worked with most of the farmers along this stretch of high- Sustainable Soy program. Without it, we would have lost access
way. We pass clumps of bushes and a scattering of small palm to credit or to a market.
trees—land that Guerrero speculates had been cleared 50 or 60 “Three years ago, I thought Cargill would probably leave. In-
years ago for cattle ranching or possibly a rubber plantation. stead, we have a changed paradigm, and there is a future here
“This is the kind of land where we can intensify farming activ- for my sons.”
July-August 2010 CARGILL NEWS 21
Pio Stefanelo explained soybean maturity to his sons Alexandre, 12, and Gabriel, 14. Both boys plan to study agronomy in the United States. The second- ary forest that rings this field will be preserved in accordance with Cargill’s Sustainable Soy project. 22 CARGILL NEWS July-August 2010
“THE WORLD IS WATCHING US, AND WE
CANNOT SELL OUR CROP UNLESS WE
RESPECT THE ENVIRONMENT. IF EXPORT
MARKETS BELIEVE WE ARE DESTROYING
THE RAINFOREST, THEY WILL NOT BUY
OUR CROP. THESE ARE OUR CUSTOMERS.”
PIO STEFANELO
Farmer
July-August 2010 CARGILL NEWS 23TOWARD A MORE SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
Good
Neighbors
Officers of the
Making the effort to communicate Santarém neighborhood
and get involved in the local association, Joana Maria
Marinho, Prof. Anesio
community has made a huge de Oliveira and Maria da
difference in Santarém. Conceicão, are starting
to get a different view
of the Cargill terminal in
the background.
SANTARÉM, BRAZIL
nesio de Oliveira, a geography professor At the neighborhood club house, a plaque next to the door ac-
at the local college, used to write poetry knowledges Cargill, which has helped the association restore the
protesting the presence of Cargill in his murals of Santarém life that line the walls of the clubhouse. Fold-
home town. Today, as a director of San- ing tables and chairs have the Cargill® logo—another donation
tarém’s neighborhood association, he from the company.
warmly greets José Francisco, the local Called the Veterano Esporte Clube, the association is non-
Cargill manager. Francisco is paying a vis- profit and charges only 1 real ($0.56) per month for membership.
it to the neighborhood’s 50-year-old club- Even so, in this poor neighborhood, many members are unable
house, which features a beautiful wood floor for samba dancing. to pay their dues.
What produced the smiles, joking and back-clapping? Com- “It is important for Cargill to show people how their tax rev-
munication. Cargill is talking to community groups in Santarém enue is supporting the city and the environment,” Marinho says.
that previously had no contact with the company. “In the past, Cargill never bothered to show the benefits it was
“When Cargill first arrived, the members of our association were bringing here.”
against any contact,” says Joana Marinho, another director. “We
were afraid. And the few times we tried, we got no response. ‘GOOD FRUIT’
“Then community organizers arrived in Santarém and told us Francisco makes his way between tables piled with watermelon,
that Cargill was a bad company. They urged us to join protests. corn, peppers, pineapple, mango, papaya, jack fruit, Brazil nuts and
We thought, ‘Maybe the protestors are right.’” manioc flour. He stops to show a bottle of tucupi, a staple of local
In its early years in Santarém, Cargill concentrated on starting cooking that consists of manioc juice with peppers floating in it.
and running its terminal. Since about 95 percent of the soybeans The farmers market of Santarém is a bustling, colorful place that
in the terminal come by barge from growing areas outside the runs seven days a week. You can see Cargill’s terminal from its en-
Amazon, hundreds of kilometers away, local farmers didn’t get trance, but until recently Cargill had no connection with the small
to know Cargill. farmers in the area who grow fruits and vegetables instead of soy.
“When we opened the terminal seven years ago, we thought a Arriving at a small trailer, Francisco greets Francinon Ferias,
relationship with the neighbors wasn’t necessary,” Francisco says. president of the Rural Producers Association of Santarém. Most
When Francisco was named manager in October 2008, it was members farm between 1 to 200 hectares on land long-since
with the understanding that community relations would be a ma- cleared of forest. Cargill is helping the association improve sani-
jor emphasis. He soon hired Katiane Jesus, a native of Santarém, tation at the market, supplying uniforms to the vendors and pro-
to help him with community connections. viding training on agronomic practices. The terminal is making
26 CARGILL NEWS July-August 2010ABOVE: Francinon Farias (left), dents toured the facility last year.
head of the Rural Producers Residents on tour can ask ques-
Association of Santarem, was
tions, sometimes revealing some as-
pleasantly surprised when
Cargill manager José Francisco tounding misperceptions. For example,
(right) reached out to the small it was commonly believed that Cargill
farmers. Association members was clear-cutting rainforest to grow
hold a farmers market seven soybeans. The terminal staff explained
days a week in Santarém.
that Cargill is not a farmer and that it
RIGHT: Cargill’s donations to refuses to buy soybeans from farmers
the neighborhood association
who cut protected forest reserve.
allowed for restoration of the
murals that surround the samba “We were able to clear up some
dance floor of its social club. misunderstandings,” Francisco says.
“It is interesting that it only took a little
the residue from soybean cleaning available for free for farmers effort to connect with the community and some humbleness to
to use as low-grade fertilizer. address the people’s concerns.”
“There is a lot in Santarém that can be improved,” Francisco Francisco emphasizes that the history of Santarém is a his-
explains. “The city has 300,000 inhabitants, and 45 percent of tory of exploitation. The boom-and-bust cycles have included
them live in the surrounding rural area. We look at this associa- gold, rubber and black pepper. “People here have grown to ex-
tion as representing almost half of the population.” pect to get nothing back from giving up their wealth of natural
Ferias admits that, until Cargill made the connection in 2009, resources,” Francisco says. “Originally, Cargill was perceived as
he heard only bad things about the company. “Through José, I have just another exploiter.”
gotten to know Cargill, and my opinion is positive,” Ferias says. “I While distrust still exists, the community of Santarém is more
believe that Cargill wants to help the farmers—big and small. In the open to discussion and hearing Cargill’s side of the situation.
future, we will harvest some good fruit from this relationship.” “Today, I and some of the other professors are starting to re-
verse our thinking about Cargill,” says Prof. Oliveira back at the
OPEN DOORS neighborhood club. “I’m not saying that everybody is completely
The hallmark of the community efforts is a program called “The in favor of the company, but we are starting to see that the issues
Terminal with Open Doors.” Everybody from the community might be more complex. And the No. 1 thing,” he adds, holding
is invited to regularly scheduled open houses. Some 1,700 resi- up a finger, “is communication.”
July-August 2010 CARGILL NEWS 27You can also read
