A new study published in Science shows that Brazil’s soy moratorium dramatically reduced Amazon deforestation. The moratorium established in 2006 by soy giants has been effective in reducing deforestation for soy production in the Amazon rainforest. The increased soy production and reduced deforestation indicated extension of soy production into previously cleared lands.  In fact, the previously cleared land in the Amazon and Cerrado region is large enough to triple the current soy production. The role of the private sector is important to achieve national goals on reducing deforestation and evidence through this study clearly demonstrated the influence of corporate giants in reducing deforestation. The study also recommended extending the soy moratorium to the Cerrado, as it also reported increased expansion for soy in Cerrado.

The team of researchers behind this study include Praveen Noojipady, a graduate student in the University of Maryland’s Department of Geographical Sciences and Douglas C. Morton, a UMD alumni and currently a research physical scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, together with researchers at the University of Wisconsin, the National Wildlife Federation (USA), Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (Brazil), IMAZON Amazon Institute of People and the Environment (Brazil) and Instituto Centro de Vida (Brazil).