In an 11-year analysis, between August 2008 and July 2019, rural properties involved in soybean cultivation accounted for 20% of the deforestation in Mato Grosso, the largest producer of this commodity in Brazil. During this period, 2.5 million hectares of native vegetation were lost, of which 500,000 hectares were in soybean farms – out of this total, 92% were operating illegally. The data is available in a new study by the Instituto Centro de Vida (ICV): “Soybean and illegal deforestation: state of the art and guidelines for an expanded protocol of grains in Mato Grosso.” Furthermore, only 176 properties accounted for more than half of all the illegal deforestation in the rural properties for soybean in the state, with 85% of them having an area greater than 1,500 hectares.

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