Cerrado Manifesto could curb deforestation, but needs support: experts

A single tree is all that remains of native vegetation cleared for soy production in the Cerrado. Photo by Jim Wickens, Ecostorm / Mighty Earth In October 2017, global companies, especially supermarkets and fast food chains including McDonalds, Walmart, Marks & Spencer, METRO, Tesco, Nando’s and Unilever introduced a Statement of Support (SoS) for the Cerrado Manifesto. In that document they called for action to halt deforestation and native vegetation loss in Brazil’s Cerrado. Seen as the uncharismatic sister to the Amazon, the Cerrado biome has been under-appreciated by conservationists, and significantly under-protected by government, for decades. Once seen as mostly worthless savannah east and south of the Amazon, the Cerrado is now known to support significant biodiversity including 10,400 species of plants, nearly half of which are endemic; 935 species of birds; 780 freshwater fish; 113 amphibians; 180 reptiles; and nearly 300 mammal species. Known as an “upside-down forest” for its small but very deeply rooted trees, shrubs and grasses, the region also has an enormous carbon storage capacity, which acts as a buffer against climate change. But the biome, originally covering more than 2 million square kilometers (772,204 square miles), has been reduced by more than half, as soy and cattle production rapidly replaces native vegetation and wildlife. In 2016, researchers found that cropland within 450,000 square kilometers (173,745 square miles) of the Cerrado had doubled over a decade, increasing from 13,000 square kilometers (5,019 square miles) in 2003, to 25,000 square kilometers (9,652 square miles) in 2013.…

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