By Aurora Lane | 2024-11-12

LA PAZ -- Livestock farming was responsible for 57% of Bolivia's deforestation between 2010 and 2022, a recent study by the Center for Studies for Labor and Agrarian Development (CEDLA) found.

One of the main drivers of this trend is the opening of the Chinese market to Bolivian beef exports in 2019, which created a lucrative yet environmentally damaging industry, the mid-October report, "Causes, Actors, and Dynamics of Deforestation in Bolivia 2010–2022," revealed.

Bolivia lost more than 2 million hectares of forest in that period.

In recent years, if countries are ranked by land area, Bolivia has been among the worst per capita culprits in deforestation.

Of the total deforested Bolivian area, 57% was allocated to livestock farming, 33% to mechanized agriculture and 10% to small-scale agriculture, according to the report.

Large and small Bolivian livestock companies were directly or indirectly responsible for the loss of 1.3 million hectares over the past 12 years.

The report identifies Mennonite colonies, agricultural companies, mechanized settlers and small farmers as other key contributors to deforestation, particularly those growing soybeans for export to China.

The livestock sector, however, is linked to the majority of deforestation.

Beef exports took off once the Chinese market opened to Bolivia in 2019.

In 2019, then-President Evo Morales celebrated the economic potential of this industry, estimating it could bring in $800 million annually.

Those exports surged from $1 million to almost $130 million annually between 2010 and 2022, according to the National Institute of Statistics (INE).

"Livestock production has been boosted by the authorization to export beef to China, a market previously restricted by health concerns," according to the CEDLA study.

Russia is the second-largest foreign market for Bolivian meat, CEDLA said.

Unfortunately, neither China nor Russia is known for enforcing strict controls on imports of products with significant environmental impact.

Plans for more cattle

That impact has been evident in recent years through the expansion of the agricultural frontier, accelerated forest loss and recurring wildfires.

Forest fires have wreaked havoc across several regions of Bolivia, burning almost 10 million hectares in 2024, according to a mid-October report by the National Institute for Agrarian Reform (INRA).

The department of Santa Cruz, the main beef production region, has been the hardest hit.

Disregarding such signs of trouble, the government plans to expand livestock farming further, envisioning a national herd of 18.1 million head of cattle by 2025, CEDLA said.

In Santa Cruz, the main production region, the cattle herd increased by 70% between 2010 and 2021, growing from 2.7 million to 4.6 million head, according to CEDLA.

Raising 18.1 million head of cattle could result in increased deforestation of the Amazon and eastern forests, CEDLA cautioned.

"These policies align with other economic initiatives, such as the opening of the Chinese market, which imposes no environmental sustainability criteria on production," it added.

While foreign exchange earnings are crucial for Bolivia amid its present-day economic crisis, "they don't seem like a good deal when weighed against the loss of natural heritage," CEDLA said.

Those hard times began in early 2023, when falling prices for Bolivia's natural-gas exports set off a chain of adverse consequences.