Experts spotlight plight of Brazil’s Cerrado

Cattle ranching and soy cultivation are displacing the flora and fauna of Brazil’s savanna at a torrid pace. (Photo by Tiago Foresti/IPAMi)

At a time when the Brazilian Amazon has become the focus of worldwide concern about the dangers of tropical deforestation, the Cerrado, a vast, wooded tropical savannah and the Amazon’s uncharismatic but ecologically important southern neighbor, has been largely ignored. The problem is not merely media inattention, but—more importantly—financial neglect. While the Brazilian Amazon over the last decade has attracted close to US$1.5 billion in donations for conservation efforts, mainly from foreign governments and multilateral lenders, international support for protection of the Cerrado has consisted of an occasional foreign grant typically amounting to less than US$10 million. Brazilian government priorities reflect that disparity, with comparatively far more public money and manpower devoted to safeguarding the Amazon. The Cerrado accounts for nearly... Read more →