According to Mapbiomas Alerta, the Cerrado is the biome with the second highest rate of deforestation in Brazil, second only to the Pantanal, which exceptionally faced an unprecedented tragedy due to fires in 2020.
According to the MapBiomas Alert Released in June 2021, 186.616 cases of deforestation were validated in Brazil in 2020, representing a daily average of 203 new events of native vegetation suppression, compared to the previous year. Despite public concern focusing more intensely on the Amazon, the numbers show another biome even more at risk: the Cerrado. Of the total deforestation, 31,2% of the devastated area in the country corresponds to the Cerrado region.
The deforestation rate indicators for the biome, which were already the highest in 2019 when compared to other biomes and considering average and maximum rate criteria, increased in 2020. That year, the Cerrado saw a 10% increase in alerts and now occupies the position of second highest rate of deforestation in Brazil, behind only the Pantanal, which exceptionally faced an unprecedented tragedy last year. In 2020 alone, the Cerrado lost 432.183 hectares of native vegetation.
Mato Grosso and Maranhão are the most critical states.
Two of the three states with the highest deforestation alerts in the country are transition states between the Cerrado and the Amazon: Mato Grosso and Maranhão, both behind the state of Pará, which leads in deforestation throughout Brazil. In second place, Mato Grosso accounts for 12,86% of deforestation; in third, Maranhão, which doubled its deforested area compared to the previous year and currently concentrates 12,08% of the country's deforested area. The municipality of Balsas, located in the region known as Matopiba (borders between the states of MA, TO, PI and BA), is the city in the Cerrado that recorded the largest area of deforestation (5,9 hectares) and ranks 5th in the ranking of municipalities that have deforested the most.
The Mapbiomas Alerta report also indicates that approximately 75% of deforestation in the Cerrado occurred on private land. This biome has the largest variation in deforested area (152%), with the maximum area being very close to that of the Amazon. Anthropologist and Executive Coordinator of the Institute for Society, Population and Nature (ISPN), Fabio Vaz, expresses concern about these figures.
“Although the Amazon receives more alerts, the Cerrado has a greater chance of disappearing completely and rapidly if no action is taken to change agricultural production practices in the region,” comments Vaz. “Because it has a smaller area than the Amazon, but a faster rate of deforestation, it is clear that what remains of native vegetation is at greater risk,” he adds.
Savannas also need protection.
More than 70% of deforestation in the Cerrado is in savanna areasjust as important as forests for maintaining climate balance. Considered the most biodiverse savanna in the world, the Cerrado represents 5% of the world's biodiversity of fauna and flora species, many of which are found only in the region. 30% of Brazil's biodiversity is in the Cerrado, which is also famous for being the country's water towersince eight of the twelve river basins that supply the population originate in this biome.
“The Cerrado is often ignored as a consequence of an old narrative that the biome is not productive,” says Fabio Vaz. “This misguided narrative favors deforestation. It is necessary to understand that the Cerrado is rich, diverse, and populated by traditional communities that conserve it and face external threats of deforestation in their territories,” he emphasizes.
Traditional Amazon communities
The existence of traditional communities is still unknown to the population and the government. According to a survey conducted in part of Matopiba by ISPN and the Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM), in partnership with the Cerrado Network, it was found that there are 3,5 times more traditional communities. traditional communities than official data shows. They are indigenous people, quilombola communities, riverside dwellers, gatherers of everlasting flowers, fence holders, and others from the more than 20 traditional segments that have a seat on the National Council of Traditional Peoples and Communities of the country.
Extremely diverse in populations, the Cerrado is also the biome that, proportionally, has the highest deforestation alert in quilombola territories in Brazil, eight of which are in the state of Maranhão.
Promotion of Ecosocial Productive Landscapes
While the deforestation figures often reflect the expansion of agribusiness and land grabbing, Fabio Vaz emphasizes that it is possible to produce food while conserving the environment. ISPN's main conservation strategy is the promotion of Productive Eco-social Landscapes, which recover degraded areas and conserve what needs to be conserved. Through support for indigenous peoples, traditional communities, and family farmers, the Institute encourages production methods that keep the Cerrado biome standing.
According to a study recently released by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAOIndigenous peoples and traditional communities are the people who most conserve the environment. Therefore, guaranteeing climate justice in Brazil necessarily involves protecting these peoples and their territories, who conserve the biodiversity of the Cerrado and, consequently, guarantee water, energy, and food for Brazilians. Attention to this biome is in everyone's interest.