Editing Deforestation (section)

==== Livestock ranching ====
[[Beef#Environmental impact|Consumption and production of beef is the primary driver of deforestation in the Amazon]], with around 80% of all converted land being used to rear cattle.<ref>{{cite news|last=Wang|first=George C.|date=9 April 2017|title=Go vegan, save the planet|work=[[CNN]]|url=http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/08/opinions/go-vegan-save-the-planet-wang/|access-date=25 August 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Liotta|first=Edoardo|date=23 August 2019|title=Feeling Sad About the Amazon Fires? Stop Eating Meat|work=[[Vice Media|Vice]]|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/feeling-sad-about-the-amazon-fires-stop-eating-meat/|access-date=25 August 2019}}</ref> 91% of Amazon land deforested since 1970 has been converted to cattle ranching.<ref name="fao">{{cite book|author1=Steinfeld, Henning|url=http://www.fao.org/docrep/010/a0701e/a0701e00.htm|title=Livestock's Long Shadow: Environmental Issues and Options|author2=Gerber, Pierre|author3=Wassenaar, T. D.|author4=Castel, Vincent|publisher=[[Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations]]|year=2006|isbn=978-92-5-105571-7|access-date=19 August 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Margulis|first=Sergio|url=http://www-wds.worldbank.org/servlet/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2004/02/02/000090341_20040202130625/Rendered/PDF/277150PAPER0wbwp0no1022.pdf|title=Causes of Deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon|series=World Bank Working Paper No. 22|publisher=The World Bank|year=2004|isbn=0-8213-5691-7|location=Washington D.C.|page=9|access-date=4 September 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080910042549/http://www-wds.worldbank.org/servlet/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2004/02/02/000090341_20040202130625/Rendered/PDF/277150PAPER0wbwp0no1022.pdf|archive-date=10 September 2008|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Livestock]] [[ranch]]ing requires large portions of land to raise herds of animals and livestock crops for consumer needs. According to the [[World Wildlife Fund]], "Extensive cattle ranching is the number one culprit of deforestation in virtually every Amazon country, and it accounts for 80% of current deforestation."<ref>{{cite web|title=Unsustainable Cattle Ranching|url=https://wwf.panda.org/discover/knowledge_hub/where_we_work/amazon/amazon_threats/unsustainable_cattle_ranching/|access-date=22 October 2022|publisher=World Wildlife Fund}}</ref>

The cattle industry is responsible for a significant amount of [[methane emissions]] since 60% of all mammals on earth are livestock cows.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2009-01-31|title=How cattle ranches are chewing up the Amazon rainforest {{!}} Greenpeace UK|language=en-GB|work=Greenpeace UK|url=https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/how-cattle-ranching-chewing-amazon-rainforest-20090129/|access-date=2018-04-29}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Carrington|first=Damian|date=2018-05-21|title=Humans just 0.01% of all life but have destroyed 83% of wild mammals – study|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/may/21/human-race-just-001-of-all-life-but-has-destroyed-over-80-of-wild-mammals-study|access-date=2020-04-28|issn=0261-3077}}</ref> Replacing forest land with pastures creates a loss of [[Stocking (forestry)|forest stock]], which leads to the implication of increased greenhouse gas emissions by burning agriculture methodologies and [[land-use change]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Sanquetta|first1=Carlos R.|last2=Bastos|first2=Alexis De S.|last3=Sanquetta|first3=Mateus N. I.|last4=Barberena|first4=Iara M.|last5=Corte|first5=Ana P. Dalla|last6=Queiroz|first6=Alexandre|last7=Almeida|first7=Luiz Felipe P. U.|date=2022-08-05|title=Assessing the carbon stock of cultivated pastures in Rondônia, southwestern Brazilian Amazon|journal=Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências|language=en|volume=94|issue=4|pages=e20210262|doi=10.1590/0001-3765202220210262|issn=0001-3765|pmid=35946750|s2cid=251429424|doi-access=free}}</ref>