Livestock’s long shadow 
Environmental issues and options 
 

By H. Steinfeld, P. Gerber, T. Wassenaar, V. Castel, M. Rosales, C. de
Haan - 2006, 390 pp

Summary: This report aims to assess the full impact of the livestock
sector on environmental problems, along with potential technical and
policy approaches to mitigation. The assessment is based on the most
recent and complete data available, taking into account direct
impacts, along with the impacts of feed crop agriculture required for
livestock production.
The livestock sector emerges as one of the top two or three most
significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems,
at every scale from local to global. The findings of this report
suggest that it should be a major policy focus when dealing with
problems of land degradation, climate change and air pollution, water
shortage and water pollution, and loss of biodiversity. 
Livestock’s contribution to environmental problems is on a massive
scale and its potential contribution to their solution is equally
large. The impact is so significant that it needs to be addressed with
urgency. Major reductions in impact could be achieved at reasonable
cost. 

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 Table of contents

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Cover, preface & table of contents - Download PDF (253 Kb)
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations and acronyms 
Executive summary  

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  Chapter 1 - Introduction - Download PDF (186 Kb)
1.1 Livestock as a major player in global environmental issues
1.2 The setting: factors shaping the livestock sector
1.3 Trends within the livestock sector 

Chapter 2 - Livestock in geographic transition - Download PDF (665 Kb)
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2.1 Trends in livestock related land use
2.1.1 Overview: a regionally diverse pattern of change
2.1.2 Globalization drives national land-use change
2.1.3 Land degradation: a vast and costly loss
2.1.4 Livestock and land use: the “geographical transition”
2.2 Geography of demand
2.3 Geography of livestock resources
2.3.1 Pastures and fodder
2.3.2 Feedcrops and crop residues
2.3.3 Agro-industrial by-products
2.3.4 Future trends
2.4 Production systems: location economics at play
2.4.1 Historical trends and distribution patterns
2.4.2 Geographical concentration
2.4.3 Increasing reliance on transport
2.5 Hotspots of land degradation
2.5.1 Pastures and feedcrops still expanding into natural ecosystems
2.5.2 Rangeland degradation: desertification and vegetation changes 
2.5.3 Contamination in peri-urban environments 
2.5.4 Intensive feedcrop agriculture 
2.6 Conclusions 

  Chapter 3 - Livestock’s role in climate change and air pollution -
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3.1 Issues and trends 
3.2 Livestock in the carbon cycle
3.2.1 Carbon emissions from feed production
3.2.2 Carbon emissions from livestock rearing
3.2.3 Carbon emissions from livestock processing and refrigerated
transport
3.3 Livestock in the nitrogen cycle
3.3.1 Nitrogen emissions from feed-related fertilizer
3.3.2 Emissions from aquatic sources following chemical fertilizer use
3.3.3 Wasting of nitrogen in the livestock production chain
3.3.4 Nitrogen emissions from stored manure 
3.3.5 Nitrogen emissions from applied or deposited manure
3.3.6 Emissions following manure nitrogen losses after application and
direct deposition
3.4 Summary of livestock’s impact
3.5 Mitigation options
3.5.1 Sequestering carbon and mitigating CO2 emissions
3.5.2 Reducing CH4 emissions from enteric fermentation through
improved efficiency and diets
3.5.3 Mitigating CH4 emissions through improved manure management and
biogas
3.5.4 Technical options for mitigating N2O emissions and NH3
volatilization  

  Chapter 4 - Livestock’s role in water depletion and pollution -
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4.1 Issues and trends 
4.2 Water use 
4.2.1 Drinking and servicing 
4.2.2 Product processing 
4.2.3 Feed production 
4.3 Water pollution 
4.3.1 Livestock waste 
4.3.2 Wastes from livestock processing 
4.3.3 Pollution from feed and fodder production 
4.4 Livestock land-use impacts on the water cycle 
4.4.1 Extensive grazing alters water flows 
4.4.2 Land-use conversion 
4.5 Summary of the impact of livestock on water 
4.6 Mitigation options 
4.6.1 Improved water-use efficiency 
4.6.2 Better waste management 
4.6.3 Land management  

  Chapter 5 - Livestock’s impact on biodiversity - 
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5.1 Issues and trends 
5.2 Dimensions of biodiversity 
5.3 Livestock’s role in biodiversity loss 
5.3.1 Habitat change 
5.3.2 Climate change 
5.3.3 Invasive alien species 
5.3.4 Overexploitation and competition 
5.3.5 Pollution 
5.4 Summary of livestock impacts on biodiversity 
5.5 Mitigation options for conservation of biodiversity  

  Chapter 6 - Policy challenges and options - Download PDF (370 Kb)
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6.1 Towards a conducive policy framework 
6.1.1 General principles 
6.1.2 Specific policy instruments 
6.1.3 Policy issues in climate change 
6.1.4 Policy issues in water 
6.1.5 Policy issues in biodiversity 
6.2 Policies options for addressing environmental pressure points 
6.2.1 Controlling expansion into natural ecosystems 
6.2.2 Limiting rangeland degradation 
6.2.3 Reducing nutrient loading in livestock concentration areas 
6.2.4 Lessening the environmental impact of intensive feedcrop
production  

  Chapter 7 - Summary and conclusions - Download PDF (173 Kb)
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7.1 Livestock and environment in context 
7.2 What needs to be done? 
7.3 The challenge ahead  
   References - Download PDF (206 Kb)
 Annexe 1 (maps) Part1: Download PDF (874 Kb) - Part 2: Download PDF
(724 Kb)
 Annexe 2 (Tables) - Download PDF (97 Kb)
 Annexe 3 (Methodology of quantification and analysis) - Download PDF
(504 Kb) 

Executive summary 

This report aims to assess the full impact of the livestock sector on
environmental problems, along with potential technical and policy
approaches to mitigation. The assessment is based on the most recent
and complete data available, taking into account direct impacts, along
with the impacts of feedcrop agriculture required for livestock
production.
The livestock sector emerges as one of the top two or three most
significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems,
at every scale from local to global. The findings of this report
suggest that it should be a major policy focus when dealing with
problems of land degradation, climate change and air pollution, water
shortage and water pollution and loss of biodiversity. 
Livestock’s contribution to environmental problems is on a massive
scale and its potential contribution to their solution is equally
large. The impact is so significant that it needs to be addressed with
urgency. Major reductions in impact could be achieved at reasonable
cost.

Global importance of the sector
Although economically not a major global player, the livestock sector
is socially and politically very significant. It accounts for 40
percent of agricultural gross domestic product (GDP). It employs 1.3
billion people and creates livelihoods for one billion of the world’s
poor. Livestock products provide one-third of humanity’s protein
intake, and are a contributing cause of obesity and a potential remedy
for undernourishment. 
Growing populations and incomes, along with changing food preferences,
are rapidly increasing demand for livestock products, while
globalization is boosting trade in livestock inputs and products.
Global production of meat is projected to more than double from 229
million tonnes in 1999/01 to 465 million tonnes in 2050, and that of
milk to grow from 580 to 1 043 million tonnes. The environmental
impact per unit of livestock production must be cut by half, just to
avoid increasing the level of damage beyond its present level.

Structural changes and their impact
The livestock sector is undergoing a complex process of technical and
geographical change, which is shifting the balance of environmental
problems caused by the sector.
Extensive grazing still occupies and degrades vast areas of land;
though there is an increasing trend towards intensification and
industrialization. Livestock production is shifting geographically,
first from rural areas to urban and peri-urban, to get closer to
consumers, then towards the sources of feedstuff, whether these are
feedcrop areas, or transport and trade hubs where feed is imported.
There is also a shift of species, with production of monogastric
species (pigs and poultry, mostly produced in industrial units)
growing rapidly, while the growth of ruminant production (cattle,
sheep and goats, often raised extensively) slows. Through these
shifts, the livestock sector enters into more and direct competition
for scarce land, water and other natural resources. 
These changes are pushing towards improved efficiency, thus reducing
the land area required for livestock production. At the same time,
they are marginalizing smallholders and pastoralists, increasing
inputs and wastes and increasing and concentrating the pollution
created. Widely dispersed non-point sources of pollution are ceding
importance to point sources that create more local damage but are more
easily regulated.

Land degradation
The livestock sector is by far the single largest anthropogenic user
of land. The total area occupied by grazing is equivalent to 26
percent of the ice-free terrestrial surface of the planet. In
addition, the total area dedicated to feedcrop production amounts to
33 percent of total arable land. In all, livestock production accounts
for 70 percent of all agricultural land and 30 percent of the land
surface of the planet. 
Expansion of livestock production is a key factor in deforestation,
especially in Latin America where the greatest amount of deforestation
is occurring – 70 percent of previous forested land in the Amazon is
occupied by pastures, and feedcrops cover a large part of the
remainder. About 20 percent of the world’s pastures and rangelands,
with 73 percent of rangelands in dry areas, have been degraded to some
extent, mostly through overgrazing, compaction and erosion created by
livestock action. The dry lands in particular are affected by these
trends, as livestock are often the only source of livelihoods for the
people living in these areas. 
Overgrazing can be reduced by grazing fees and by removing obstacles
to mobility on common property pastures. Land degradation can be
limited and reversed through soil conservation methods,
silvopastoralism, better management of grazing systems, limits to
uncontrolled burning by pastoralists and controlled exclusion from
sensitive areas.

Atmosphere and climate
With rising temperatures, rising sea levels, melting icecaps and
glaciers, shifting ocean currents and weather patterns, climate change
is the most serious challenge facing the human race. 
The livestock sector is a major player, responsible for 18 percent of
greenhouse gas emissions measured in CO2 equivalent. This is a higher
share than transport. 
The livestock sector accounts for 9 percent of anthropogenic CO2
emissions. The largest share of this derives from land-use changes –
especially deforestation – caused by expansion of pastures and arable
land for feedcrops. Livestock are responsible for much larger shares
of some gases with far higher potential to warm the atmosphere. The
sector emits 37 percent of anthropogenic methane (with 23 times the
global warming potential (GWP) of CO2) most of that from enteric
fermentation by ruminants. It emits 65 percent of anthropogenic
nitrous oxide (with 296 times the GWP of CO2), the great majority from
manure. Livestock are also responsible for almost two-thirds (64
percent) of anthropogenic ammonia emissions, which contribute
significantly to acid rain and acidification of ecosystems. 
This high level of emissions opens up large opportunities for climate
change mitigation through livestock actions. Intensification – in
terms of increased productivity both in livestock production and in
feedcrop agriculture – can reduce greenhouse gas emissions from
deforestation and pasture degradation. In addition, restoring
historical losses of soil carbon through conservation tillage, cover
crops, agroforestry and other measures could sequester up to 1.3
tonnes of carbon per hectare per year, with additional amounts
available through restoration of desertified pastures. Methane
emissions can be reduced through improved diets to reduce enteric
fermentation, improved manure management and biogas – which also
provide renewable energy. Nitrogen emissions can be reduced through
improved diets and manure management. 
The Kyoto Protocol’s clean development mechanism (CDM) can be used to
finance the spread of biogas and silvopastoral initiatives involving
afforestation and reforestation. Methodologies should be developed so
that the CDM can finance other livestock-related options such as soil
carbon sequestration through rehabilitation of degraded pastures. 

Water 
The world is moving towards increasing problems of freshwater
shortage, scarcity and depletion, with 64 percent of the world’s
population expected to live in water-stressed basins by 2025. 
The livestock sector is a key player in increasing water use,
accounting for over 8 percent of global human water use, mostly for
the irrigation of feedcrops. It is probably the largest sectoral
source of water pollution, contributing to eutrophication, “dead”
zones in coastal areas, degradation of coral reefs, human health
problems, emergence of antibiotic resistance and many others. The
major sources of pollution are from animal wastes, antibiotics and
hormones, chemicals from tanneries, fertilizers and pesticides used
for feedcrops, and sediments from eroded pastures. Global figures are
not available but in the United States, with the world’s fourth
largest land area, livestock are responsible for an estimated 55
percent of erosion and sediment, 37 percent of pesticide use, 50
percent of antibiotic use, and a third of the loads of nitrogen and
phosphorus into freshwater resources. 
Livestock also affect the replenishment of freshwater by compacting
soil, reducing infiltration, degrading the banks of watercourses,
drying up floodplains and lowering water tables. Livestock’s
contribution to deforestation also increases runoff and reduces dry
season flows. 
Water use can be reduced through improving the efficiency of
irrigation systems. Livestock’s impact on erosion, sedimentation and
water regulation can be addressed by measures against land
degradation. Pollution can be tackled through better management of
animal waste in industrial production units, better diets to improve
nutrient absorption, improved manure management (including biogas) and
better use of processed manure on croplands. Industrial livestock
production should be decentralized to accessible croplands where
wastes can be recycled without overloading soils and freshwater. 
Policy measures that would help in reducing water use and pollution
include full cost pricing of water (to cover supply costs, as well as
economic and environmental externalities), regulatory frameworks for
limiting inputs and scale, specifying required equipment and discharge
levels, zoning regulations and taxes to discourage large-scale
concentrations close to cities, as well as the development of secure
water rights and water markets, and participatory management of
watersheds.

Biodiversity
We are in an era of unprecedented threats to biodiversity. The loss of
species is estimated to be running 50 to 500 times higher than
background rates found in the fossil record. Fifteen out of 24
important ecosystem services are assessed to be in decline. 
Livestock now account for about 20 percent of the total terrestrial
animal biomass, and the 30 percent of the earth’s land surface that
they now pre-empt was once habitat for wildlife. Indeed, the livestock
sector may well be the leading player in the reduction of
biodiversity, since it is the major driver of deforestation, as well
as one of the leading drivers of land degradation, pollution, climate
change, overfishing, sedimentation of coastal areas and facilitation
of invasions by alien species. In addition, resource conflicts with
pastoralists threaten species of wild predators and also protected
areas close to pastures. Meanwhile in developed regions, especially
Europe, pastures had become a location of diverse long-established
types of ecosystem, many of which are now threatened by pasture
abandonment.
Some 306 of the 825 terrestrial ecoregions identified by the Worldwide
Fund for Nature (WWF) – ranged across all biomes and all
biogeographical realms, reported livestock as one of the current
threats. Conservation International has identified 35 global hotspots
for biodiversity, characterized by exceptional levels of plant
endemism and serious levels of habitat loss. Of these, 23 are reported
to be affected by livestock production. An analysis of the
authoritative World Conservation Union (IUCN) Red List of Threatened
Species shows that most of the world’s threatened species are
suffering habitat loss where livestock are a factor. 
Since many of livestock’s threats to biodiversity arise from their
impact on the main resource sectors (climate, air and water pollution,
land degradation and deforestation), major options for mitigation are
detailed in those sections. There is also scope for improving
pastoralists’ interactions with wildlife and parks and raising
wildlife species in livestock enterprises. 
Reduction of the wildlife area pre-empted by livestock can be achieved
by intensification. Protection of wild areas, buffer zones,
conservation easements, tax credits and penalties can increase the
amount of land where biodiversity conservation is prioritized. Efforts
should extend more widely to integrate livestock production and
producers into landscape management. 

Cross-cutting policy frameworks
Certain general policy approaches cut across all the above fields. A
general conclusion is that improving the resource use efficiency of
livestock production can reduce environmental impacts. While
regulating about scale, inputs, wastes and so on can help, a crucial
element in achieving greater efficiency is the correct pricing of
natural resources such as land, water and use of waste sinks. Most
frequently natural resources are free or underpriced, which leads to
overexploitation and pollution. Often perverse subsidies directly
encourage livestock producers to engage in environmentally damaging
activities. A top priority is to achieve prices and fees that reflect
the full economic and environmental costs, including all
externalities. One requirement for prices to influence behaviour is
that there should be secure and if possible tradable rights to water,
land, use of common land and waste sinks. 
Damaging subsidies should be removed, and economic and environmental
externalities should be built into prices by selective taxing of
and/or fees for resource use, inputs and wastes. In some cases direct
incentives may be needed. 
Payment for environmental services is an important framework,
especially in relation to extensive grazing systems: herders,
producers and landowners can be paid for specific environmental
services such as regulation of water flows, soil conservation,
conservation of natural landscape and wildlife habitats, or carbon
sequestration. Provision of environmental services may emerge as a
major purpose of extensive grassland-based production systems. 
An important general lesson is that the livestock sector has such deep
and wide-ranging environmental impacts that it should rank as one of
the leading focuses for environmental policy: efforts here can produce
large and multiple payoffs. Indeed, as societies develop, it is likely
that environmental considerations, along with human health issues,
will become the dominant policy considerations for the sector. 
Finally, there is an urgent need to develop suitable institutional and
policy frameworks, at local, national and international levels, for
the suggested changes to occur. This will require strong political
commitment, and increased knowledge and awareness of the environmental
risks of continuing “business as usual” and the environmental benefits
of actions in the livestock sector.



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