Uruguay bets on sustainable livestock production with new technical group

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Uruguay will bet on reducing its environmental footprint in the livestock sector by forming an inter-institutional team that seeks to “set the course” of its policy for rural areas and differentiate the country’s production at international level.

This was stated this Tuesday by the Ministers of Environment, Adrián Peña, and Livestock, Agriculture, and Fisheries, Carlos María Uriarte, who stressed the importance of coordinating efforts towards the future within the framework of the launching of the Interinstitutional Technical Team of the Livestock Environmental Footprint.

Peña told the press that, although the country has studied the environmental impact of its livestock and agricultural production, the information was “scattered,” and this new group will make it possible to optimize those resources in a “complementary” way.

“There is much that is already measured to demonstrate that Uruguay produces in an environmentally responsible way, that the footprint left by production is not negative, but at the same time it seems to us that this study is an opportunity to detect where we have to improve”, he added.

Along the same lines as Peña, who also highlighted the relevance of this initiative for the country to “lead” at an international level, Uriarte argued that, as a food producer, Uruguay faces the challenge of increasing the quality margin that differentiates it from its competitors when it comes to exporting.

“Our competitors are very close to us, and what we have margin in is what we are and what we do historically, which is to produce responsibly. Sixty percent of our cattle raising is on natural fields. We have to do it maintaining biodiversity, without cutting trees to produce while protecting the environment”, he remarked.

The launch of the new equipment was followed by the virtual forum “Environmental footprint of livestock production systems”. Various experts spoke about Uruguay’s objectives and progress in this area.

Cecilia Penengo, a technician from the National Directorate of Climate Change of the Ministry of the Environment, pointed out that the country has “an important capacity to reserve carbon in its natural ecosystems” and good conservation management practices that are advantageous.

The expert said that, in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement, Uruguay is now going through a monitoring stage with a view to 2025, when it will have to evaluate its progress to account for its emissions, ecosystem preservation, and climate adaptation.

Cecilia Jones, technical officer for Climate Change at the Ministry of Livestock, Agriculture, and Fisheries, said that in 2020, modeling work was carried out in livestock areas, and it was observed that there is “a huge potential” for organic carbon sequestration and the restoration of degraded lands.