Marfrig Promotes Sustainable Cattle Production in Amazon Region
The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Arlington, Va., Walmart Brazil, Brazil’s Marfrig Group and ranchers joined forces to spread social and environmental best practices in cattle production activities in the Brazilian Amazon Region. TNC, a leading conservation organization, Marfrig Group, one of the world’s largest food producers, and Walmart Brazil, the world’s leading retailer, will provide technical resources to promote compliance with environmental legislation and expand responsible production among ranchers operating in the municipalities of São Félix do Xingu and Tucumã, located in southeastern Pará, a state in Brazil’s North Region. The objective is to ensure the conservation of these regions’ forests, soil and rivers, while expanding the supply of beef with assured origin to Brazilian consumers using an enhanced beef tracking system.
Southeastern Pará was the area chosen for the project because of its high potential for conservation and its growing economic importance based primarily on cattle production. The region concentrates forests, which are distributed across conservation units, indigenous reservations and private properties, as well as rivers of fundamental importance to the entire Amazon Region, such as the Xingu River and its affluents. The region is also situated on one of Brazil’s most dynamic agricultural frontiers. São Félix do Xingu, for example, is the Brazilian municipality with the largest cattle herd in the country, according to the Brazilian Geography and Statistics Institute (IBGE), and concentrates 1% of the national herd.