Estimated reading time: 8 minutes
A damning Global Witness investigation exposes how JBS, the world’s largest meat company, is directly linked to deforestation in some of Brazil’s most biodiverse ecosystems, including the Amazon and Pantanal. Despite greenwashing promises, JBS continues sourcing cattle from ranchers involved in illegal deforestation in areas that overlap with protected jaguar territory—pushing iconic species like the jaguar closer to extinction. The company’s failure to track indirect suppliers undermines greenwashing and zero-deforestation claims. JBS is financed by British Bank Barclays who made a whopping $1.7 billion from this decimation of the environment. This scandal highlights the urgent need to divest your wealth from Barclays until they stop funding JBS. Also in the supermarket you can #BoycottMeat and be #vegan for not only farmed animals but also for wild animals like jaguars and countless others. #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife
#Meat giant 🥩☠️ #JBS is driving #deforestation in the #Amazon🐆 ❌ Jaguars are losing their home to cows killed for burgers 🤮💰 Billions in profits to #Barclays and zero accountability 📣 Divest NOW! NO to #BigCat #extinction! #Boycott4Wildlife #Vegan https://palmoildetectives.com/2026/01/21/jaguars-vs-cows-jbs-fuelling-biodiversity-collapse-in-brazils-forests/
Global Witness. (2024, May 15). Jaguars vs cows: The biodiversity crisis under JBS’s shadow. https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/forests/jaguars-vs-cows-the-biodiversity-crisis-under-jbs-shadow/
Key Takeaways
- JBS deforestation drives illegal cattle ranching, causing severe habitat loss for jaguars in Brazil’s rainforest.
- Over 27 million hectares of jaguar habitat have been cleared for industrial agriculture between 2014 and 2023.
- Despite greenwashing claims, JBS sources from ranchers involved in deforestation, undermining their environmental promises.
- Barclays Bank profits $1.7 billion from financing JBS, prompting calls for divestment and action against meat consumption.
- Global Witness urges world leaders to strengthen regulations to protect forests and halt biodiversity loss.
Table of contents
- 27 million hectares of rainforest gone to cattle deforestation
- JBS deforestation: The world’s largest meat company is replacing jaguars with cows
- End JBS cattle deforestation Brazil and across the entire Amazon
- Cattle deforestation is a solvable issue: Global Witness
- Barclays bank: funding Amazon ecocide in the shadows
- Take action in five ways!
27 million hectares of rainforest gone to cattle deforestation
A Global Witness investigation has found that jaguars, vital guardians of Amazonian ecosystems and critical apex predators — are under siege as Brazil’s forests are cleared at alarming rates. New findings from Global Witness show that over 27 million hectares of the jaguar’s historic habitat in Brazil have been razed for industrial agriculture, particularly cattle ranching, between 2014 and 2023.
JBS deforestation: The world’s largest meat company is replacing jaguars with cows
A single supplier to JBS illegally cleared over 1,200 hectares of protected jaguar habitat in just a decade. Across the jaguar’s range in Pará and Mato Grosso states, 75% of farms linked to JBS’s supply chain broke environmental laws in the past five years. Deforestation and habitat fragmentation have devastated jaguar populations, classified as ‘Near Threatened’ on the IUCN Red List.
Jaguars are a keystone species, crucial to maintaining ecosystem health. Their decline ripples throughout the Amazon and Cerrado, triggering wider biodiversity loss. Meanwhile, financial institutions in Europe, China, and the US continue backing JBS despite its environmental breaches, profiting while forests fall.
End JBS cattle deforestation Brazil and across the entire Amazon
Global Witness found over 27 million ha of jaguar habitat, around the size of the UK is now cattle ranches in Mato Grosso and Pará as of 2023.
Global Witness is calling for world leaders to show real commitment. Laws regulating supply chains and finance must be strengthened. Because protecting remaining forests and Indigenous territories is critical. Otherwise we will miss the 2030 deadline to halt deforestation.
Without urgent action, jaguars, once revered as guardians of the rainforest — could vanish forever.
“We decided to investigate the loss of jaguar habitat driven by industrial agriculture because jaguars are a keystone species. They play a crucial role in stabilising ecosystems and maintaining biodiversity in areas such as the Amazon and Cerrado. When their territories are destroyed, the entire ecosystem suffers.”
Marco Mantovani, Global Witness investigator leading the data analysis.
Cattle deforestation is a solvable issue: Global Witness
“Deforestation is a solvable issue, but it’s one where there is stalling, a lack of political will to actually meet the global agreement to end forest loss by 2030,” said Global Witness’s Reid, referring to the landmark pledge reached at COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, in 2021.
She told Mongabay that she hopes that at COP30 countries will put forward plans “to actually deliver [on] their commitments when it comes to forest loss.”
Barclays bank: funding Amazon ecocide in the shadows
British banking giant Barclays was a main financier of the megaproject and made an extraordinary $1.7 billion from financing JBS, surpassing 30 other global financial institutions bankrolling the meatpacker. A key way to take action is to not only boycott meat in solidarity to cows and jaguars, but to also divest your funds from Barclays.
Global Witness. (2024, May 15). Jaguars vs cows: The biodiversity crisis under JBS’s shadow. https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/forests/jaguars-vs-cows-the-biodiversity-crisis-under-jbs-shadow/
ENDS
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