Turning a Slash-and-Burn Capital into One of the Amazon's Greenest Places
Turning a Slash-and-Burn Capital into One of the Amazon's Greenest Places
Mauro Lúcio Costa and the gospel of profitable sustainability.
In 2007, the Brazilian government named the municipality of Paragominas, in Pará state, one of the biggest culprits for deforestation of the Amazon. Ranchers there were responsible for the loss of 156 square miles of forest per year. But just a few years later, Paragominas was being hailed as a model for sustainable development in the Amazon. One of the men responsible for the drastic change was Mauro Lúcio Costa. But he’s no environmental campaigner. He’s just trying to run a business.
Costa, seldom seen without his trademark cowboy hat, knows a thing or two about ranching. It’s in...
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