Illegal Cattle Ranches Devastate Rainforest and Livelihoods in Brazil
Read a text description of this video
SOUNDBITES
Toto Arara
Every year, the invaders clear more land for cattle. Then they burn it.
SOUNDBITES
Givanildo dos Santos Lima
Today, the biggest driver of deforestation in the Amazon region is cattle ranching.
DATE/PLACE
February 2025
Cachoeira Seca Indigenous Territory, Brazil
Powdem Arara
I don't know why the government doesn't remove the invaders from our land.
Pyjaka Arara
We, the Arara people, are very afraid of ranchers.
Maria Márcia de Melo
The landgrabbers made me lose 17 years of work in a matter of minutes. Look! It's all dead.
DATE/PLACE
November 2024
PDS Terra Nossa, Brazil
Maria dos Reis
We can't say anything, or the land grabbers threaten us.
Cleve Gonçalves da Silva
And it's very dangerous here in Terra Nossa. They've already killed many people in this settlement.
TITLE
Invaded
Watch full video at HRW.org
(São Paulo, October 15, 2025) – Illegal cattle ranching has devastated the territories of small farmers and Indigenous peoples in Pará, the state that will hold the COP30 climate summit this year, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. JBS, the world’s largest meat company, may have exported beef and hides to the European Union made with cattle sourced from illegal ranches in this region.
The report “Tainted: JBS and the EU’s Exposure to Human Rights Violations and Illegal Deforestation in Pará, Brazil,” details how cattle ranchers illegally seized land and devastated the livelihoods of lawful residents in the Terra Nossa smallholder settlement and the Cachoeira Seca Indigenous territory, affecting their rights to housing, land, and culture. Human Rights Watch analysis of official sources shows that illegal farms in these areas sold cattle to several JBS direct suppliers.
