Colombia Makes History: New Law Tracks Every Cow to Stop Amazon Deforestation

Colombia this month passed its first national law requiring beef to be traced back to its origin. The landmark rule aims to stop deforestation linked to cattle ranching, a major driver of tree loss in the Amazon rainforest. Environmental groups say the law could serve as a model for the wider Amazon region, where livestock production is the leading cause of forest destruction in the world’s largest and most climate-critical rainforest. Under the new law, all cattle must be tracked from birth to slaughter, ensuring that beef sold in Colombia does not come from illegally cleared land.