Unasylva 239, Vol. 63, 2012/1 The livestock sector occupies about 30 percent of the land surface of our planet through grazing and feed-crop production. It is a leading driver of deforestation, land degradation, pollution, climate change, the sedimentation of coastal areas and invasions by alien species (FAO and LEAD, 2006). The link between livestock production and deforestation is strongest in Latin America, where cattleranching activities have expanded, mostly at the expense of forests. A simplified form of cattle-ranching based on grass monocultures has been practised for centuries in Latin America. This type of system has promoted environmental degradation and climate change because it goes against the natural dynamics of tropical forest ecosystems1 (Wassenaara et al., 2007). A paradox of cattle-ranching in Latin America is that, even though it is currently Integrating forestry, sustainable cattle-ranching and landscape restoration