New method combines commodity tracing and species data to quantify impacts of soy imports on biodiversity

Researchers have developed a method linking trade data, land cover and biodiversity indices to measure the impact of imports on biodiversity in production areas. Applied to German soy imports from Brazil, the study found that 70% are traceable to municipalities with a high fraction of damaged ecosystems.

The analysis covers 2004, 2011 and 2018 trade flows.