Cattle ranch threat to Amazon

Cattle ranchers are far bigger culprits in Amazon deforestation than soy farmers, a study showed, as the environmental record of Brazil's commodity exporters comes under increasing international scrutiny.

The study, produced jointly by environmental groups and the soy industry, showed that only 12 of 630 sample areas deforested since July 2006 - or 0.88 per cent of 157,896ha - were planted with soy.

By comparison, nearly 200 were converted into pasture land for cattle.