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Soy without deforestation should become standard in the EU


Soy is associated with deforestation and conversion of natural areas. A new European law that is currently being developed should put a stop to deforestation. The European animal feed sector has already made a start − with a focus on conversion − in the new guidelines for sustainable soy.


BY CAROLIEN KLOOSTERMAN, EDITOR OF BOERDERIJ D 6


eforestation of nature areas for agriculture is an is- sue worldwide. It is on the agenda of large multi- nationals, (national) governments, NGOs and banks. Work is currently underway on deforesta-


tion legislation at the European level. Recently, the European animal feed organization FEFAC came up with new guidelines for the purchase of sustainable soy, in which more attention is paid to deforestation. Coincidentally, the new guidelines came a few weeks after the World Wide Fund for Nature


A highway in Brazil that runs between the Tapajos Na- tional Forest on the left and a soy field on the right.


(WWF) raised the alarm about deforestation in a report. Ac- cording to WWF, one of the major causes of deforestation is the high demand in Europe for palm oil, soy for animal feed and cocoa.


Soy sourcing guidelines The new version of the FEFAC guidelines, the soy sourcing guidelines (SSG), followed an earlier version in 2015. The SSG is a comparison tool with which programmes and schemes for sustainable soy can be compared. An important change from the previous version is the option to compare soy


What’s the difference between illegal and legal deforestation?


In the previous version of the SSG, FEFAC only focused on illegal deforestation. Legal deforest- ation is deforestation that is permitted under the law of a particular country. For example, landowners in the Cerrado (a savanna-like area) in Brazil must leave 20% to 35% of the forest on


their land intact. In the Amazon this figure is 80%. The rest can therefore be deforested le- gally. Also, some forests do not have a clear ownership or destination status. Then there is a lack of clarity about who is responsible for pro- tecting these areas. That is why land grabbing


▶ ALL ABOUT FEED | Volume 29, No. 2, 2021


and illegal deforestation often take place. Con- version goes beyond deforestation. Conver- sion-free soy means that no natural ecosystem, including forests, swamps and savannas, has been converted for soy cultivation after a certain cut-off date, not even legally.


PHOTO: ANP


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