UK chicken linked to Brazilian deforestation - 7th December 2020

A joint, cross border investigation has found UK supermarkets and fast food chains source chicken fed on soya beans linked to deforestation. The soya beans are imported from the Cerrado region in Brazil, where at least 800 square kilometres of trees have been cleared for soya agriculture.

The Cerrado is a vast, tropical savannah. It stretches diagonally across 2 million square kilometres of Brazil, approximately 22 percent of the country.

According to Brazil's environment ministry, the rich biodiversity of the region includes 11,620 plant and 1,200 fish species. Its 200 mammals include jaguars, anteaters and tapirs. The globally important carbon sink absorbs large amounts of carbon every year.

However, over half of its landscape of grassland scrub and dry forest is now being used for agricultural purposes. Soya for markets such as China and Europe is the main crop of the region.

The Brazilian government has steadily eased restrictions on tree clearance over the past decade and sometimes actively supported it. The Cerrado has been specifically targeted in an attempt to boost exports.

In the UK, a billion chickens are served up each year, equivalent to 15 birds per head. Many are raised on soya beans imported from the Cerrado.

The environmental impact of soya farming varies hugely from country to country. However, as labels often provide insufficient information about the meat's origins, UK shoppers are unaware of whether their purchases contribute to the problem of deforestation.