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Sustainable Cattle Ranching in Practice: Moving from Theory to Planning in Colombia’s Livestock Sector

Environmental Management volume 60, pages 176–184 (2017)Cite this article

Abstract

A growing population with increasing consumption of milk and dairy require more agricultural output in the coming years, which potentially competes with forests and other natural habitats. This issue is particularly salient in the tropics, where deforestation has traditionally generated cattle pastures and other commodity crops such as corn and soy. The purpose of this article is to review the concepts and discussion associated with reconciling food production and conservation, and in particular with regards to cattle production, including the concepts of land-sparing and land-sharing. We then present these concepts in the specific context of Colombia, where there are efforts to increase both cattle production and protect tropical forests, in order to discuss the potential for landscape planning for sustainable cattle production. We outline a national planning approach, which includes disaggregating the diverse cattle sector and production types, identifying biophysical, and economic opportunities and barriers for sustainable intensification in cattle ranching, and analyzing areas suitable for habitat restoration and conservation, in order to plan for both land-sparing and land-sharing strategies. This approach can be used in other contexts across the world where there is a need to incorporate cattle production into national goals for carbon sequestration and habitat restoration and conservation.

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Notes

  1. The MBSCR project is funded by the Global Environment Facility and the Departament of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy of Great Britain, and coordinated by the World Bank. The Government of Colombia manages the project and the cattle association, Fedegan, leads the project, with technical assistance from The Nature Conservancy, CIPAV, and Fondo Acción, a Colombian NGO.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation for funding related to this article, to the Agricultural Synergies Project of Princeton University, and to the diversity of actors in Colombia who have been working on sustainable cattle ranching, including those at CIPAV, CIAT, Corpoica, and Fedegan, the Colombian Agricultural and Environmental Ministries, and the National Planning Department. Additionally, the authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratorio Nacional de Ciencias de la Sostenibilidad (LANCIS), Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Apartado Postal 70-275, Ciudad Universitaria, UNAM, C.P. 04510, México, D.F., Mexico

    Amy M. Lerner

  2. Facultad de Estudios Ambientales y Rurales, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Carrera 7, No. 40-62, Bogotá, D.C., Colombia

    Andrés Felipe Zuluaga

  3. Centro para la Investigación en Sistemas Sostenibles de Producción Agropecuaria (CIPAV), Carrera 25, No. 6-62, Cali, Colombia

    Julián Chará

  4. Facultad de Estudios Ambientales y Rurales, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Carrera 7, No. 40-62, Bogotá, D.C., Colombia

    Andrés Etter

  5. Program in Science, Technology and Environmental Policy (STEP), Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University, Robertson Hall, Princeton, NJ, 08540, USA

    Timothy Searchinger

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  1. Amy M. Lerner
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  2. Andrés Felipe Zuluaga
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  3. Julián Chará
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Correspondence to Amy M. Lerner.

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Lerner, A.M., Zuluaga, A.F., Chará, J. et al. Sustainable Cattle Ranching in Practice: Moving from Theory to Planning in Colombia’s Livestock Sector. Environmental Management 60, 176–184 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-017-0902-8

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