Amazon Deforestation, Once Tamed, Comes Roaring Backbr The reports of fresh deforestation come despite a landmark deal signed three years ago by Cargill and other companiesbr that included a target of "eliminating deforestation from the production of agricultural commodities like palm oil, soy and beef products by 2020." Experts at the time said the deadline, laid out in the New York Declaration of Forests, would require companies to start straightaway to make their sourcing more sustainable.br Even before the New York Declaration, Cargill had made significant efforts to buy palm oil sourced only from land not linked to freshbr deforestation, according to a supply-chain expert with extensive experience working on Cargill’s global sustainability efforts.br In recent statements, Cargill has adopted a 2030 deadline for elimination of deforestation from its supply chain — a separate deadline, mentioned elsewhere in the New York Declaration,br that was meant to apply to ending all forms of deforestation, not just those related to agricultural commodities.br That organization, Washington-based Mighty Earth, used satellite imagingbr and supply-chain mapping information from the Stockholm Environment Institute, an environmental think tank, to identify deforestation in Brazil where two American-based food giants, Cargill and Bunge, are the only known agricultural traders.br "A positive step would be for more companies to adopt zero deforestation commitments, apply controls to block crops grown in illegally cleared areas from entering their supply chains, report publicly on progressbr and invest millions of dollars to support sustainable land use planning efforts, all of which Bunge has done." (Bunge, however, is not a signatory to the New York Declaration of Forests.)br A reporter for The New York Times independently traveled to remote areas of Bolivia described in the environmentalists’ reportbr and interviewed farmers engaged in deforestation who said they sold soy to Cargill.br According to Mighty Earth’s analysis, the Brazilian savanna areas in which Cargill operates, abr region called the Cerrado, saw more than 321,000 acres of deforestation between 2011 and 2015.