São Paulo State contains some of the last vestiges of the Atlantic Rainforest - only 7% of the original Atlantic Rainforest remains today. Much of the destruction of these forests was and is due to sugar cane production. In addition to cutting down the forests, sugar cane production leads to hectares and hectares of land being burned every year. After sugar cane has exhausted the land, cattle ranchers move in, thus causing significant erosion and even greater land degradation. As the land is degraded, springs dry up, soil washes away, agricultural production falls, and plant and animal species disappear.
