Impacts of cattle ranching

Cattle ranching ~ environmental tragedy or conservation strategy?

A majority of the Pantanal is privately owned and used for cattle ranching. Cattle were introduced around 250 years ago near Cuiabá and since then have figured prominently in the region's economy. At one point, there were 5 million head of cattle living within the Pantanal, and currently the number is around 3 million.

Any operation of this size must have significant impacts on the natural environment, and cattle ranching is no exception. Some commonly cited direct environmental effects of cattle ranching are compaction of soil, trampling of vegetation and over-enrichment via excrement. Other impacts are the introduction and spread of invasive weeds (especially imported pasture grasses), reduced productivity and species diversity, and restricted penetration of floodwaters into soils.

However, despite these negative environmental impacts, some have heralded cattle ranching as an environmental boon that has protected the region from more significant degradation. Certainly other human activities such as mining, intensive agriculture, or urbanization would have a much greater impact on the Pantanal. Today, much of the land is left in its natural state (or close to it), as much of the land is not suitable for grazing, especially the wetter areas that are inundated year-round. Furthermore, while some areas have been converted to pastureland, in others cattle are left to graze on the native grasses in unconverted land. Finally, the current diversity in the Pantanal is evidence that ranching has helped to preserve large parts of the region.

-Palani