Mongabay series: Cerrado

Brazil’s government is fast tracking pesticides with record speed, despite warnings by critics that some are exceedingly toxic and unhealthy while others are unneeded.

80% of Brazilian deforestation between 2000-2014 resulted from new pasture creation, with 20% directly due to new croplands; however, land speculation drove the process.

ÑUFLO DE CHÁVEZ, Bolivia — Few countries in the tropics have seen their trees chopped down as quickly as Bolivia did between 2001 and 2017. According to data from the…

Cargill, Bunge, ADM, Louis Dreyfus, Glencore Agriculture, and Chinese firm COFCO have agreed to reveal soy supply chain data for 25 “high risk” areas – a step toward zero deforestation.

Traditional communities in Brazil’s savannah, lacking land deeds, have been displaced by large-scale soy growers, and forced to resettle in impoverished cities like Campos Lindos.

Some ruralist politicians, up for election next month, own or associate with firms guilty of crimes; push attacks on the environment and indigenous groups; sell goods to U.S. / EU.

Brazil is a leading global consumer of chemical pesticides – many banned in the EU and U.S. This not only puts farmworkers at risk, but consumers of Brazilian food the world round.

Report details soy supply chains, shows that just six traders control most of Brazil’s deforestation risk. Report is product of Trase, a powerful new Internet tracking tool.

APG and Robeco are two of the most recent companies to sign on to the Cerrado Manifesto, which calls for an end to deforestation in Brazil's Cerrado biome.

Current Brazilian government policies could increase deforestation and carbon emissions, costing the nation $2-5 trillion dollars more to meet its Paris Climate Agreement pledge.

Traditional communities in Bahia, Brazil, have won a court case against Agronegócio Estrondo, an agribusiness company, which illegally seized lands from the communities.

A study finds that abandoned pasture does not regain its former biodiversity, even after 25 years. Introducing fire as a management tool could help enrich habitat.

Brazil is reporting its CO2 emissions within U.N. guidelines, but the nation’s true carbon releases due to forest degradation, wildfires and other key sources could be far higher.

The Cerrado Manifesto could reduce rapid conversion of forest to cropland in Brazil’s savannah, but commodity firms Cargill, Bunge, ADM need to sign on, analysts say.

People donating to Harvard University’s endowment fund, or investing with TIAA-CREF and other financial firms are likely unaware their investments could be funding land theft in Brazil — a Mongabay exclusive.

The city of Luís Eduardo Magalhães in Brazil’s Bahia state is built on soy profits, but it has grown randomly, with some parts poor, others wealthy, and all facing an uncertain future.

The geraizeiros have farmed, grazed, and foraged on Cerrado natural lands for 200 years, but often lack legal title. Agribusiness is taking that land, say traditional communities.

The vast Cerrado savannah feeds many Brazilian watersheds and aquifers. But irrigation by expanding agribusiness is reducing supply, leading to conflicts with traditional farming communities.

With Amazon deforestation due to soy production much reduced, agribusiness has vastly expanded into the Cerrado savannah next door; environmentalists are rushing to save what’s left.

Conservationists recently awoke to the extraordinary value of the Cerrado - a biodiverse biome long outshone by the Amazon and a key carbon sink; but agribusiness is fast destroying it.