June 29, 2026 9:46AM # Reducing Deforestation by Aligning Private Incentives By [Jeffrey Miron](https://www.cato.org/people/jeffrey-miron) --- SHARE Listen to this article Generated with [ ElevenLabs](https://elevenlabs.io/) AI technology. Loading the [Elevenlabs Text to Speech](https://elevenlabs.io/text-to-speech) AudioNative Player... Brazil has struggled historically to prevent its cattle industry from [contributing to deforestation](https://www.zerodeforestationimpacts.com/our-work-in-brazil/#:~:text=Cattle%20is%20the%20immediate%20driver%20of%20deforestation%20for%2080%25%20of%20deforestation%20and%20carbon%20loss%20across%20South%20America%2C%20with%20much%20of%20this%20concentrated%20in%20Brazil.). [One study](https://www.cato.org/research-briefs-economic-policy/industrial-activity-state-capacity-deforestation-evidence-brazil), however, considers a new approach: Conduct Adjustment Agreements (TACs), under which cattle-buying plants are > forgiven for past violations but could be penalized for future livestock purchases from illegally deforested areas. … \[B\]efore TACs were introduced … slaughterhouse openings significantly reduced the area of natural forest … \[because\] ranchers increased their pastureland … through deforestation. But when > an existing slaughterhouse signed a TAC, new slaughterhouse openings … did not result in additional forest loss or severe pasture degradation. Instead, ranchers increased the number of cattle on existing pastureland and earned a price premium for their production. Slaughterhouses that signed TACs … monitored ranchers more closely to avoid purchasing cattle from illegally deforested areas. All in all, > \[t\]hese factors may have led ranchers to increase the productivity of existing pasture by improving management instead of expanding pastureland. *Cross-posted from* [*Substack*](https://jeffreymiron.substack.com/)*.* ##### Related Tags [Regulation](https://www.cato.org/regulatory-studies) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).