Twenty-three of the world’s leading food companies have indicated that they are “committed to halting forest loss associated with agricultural commodity production” in one of the world’s most vital ecosystems, the Brazilian Cerrado savanna. At an event organized by The Prince of Wales’s International Sustainability Unit and Unilever, the companies expressed support for the goals outlined in the Cerrado Manifesto, a call to action for the elimination of deforestation and the conversion of native vegetation in the Cerrado.
Covering more than a quarter of Brazil’s land area, the Cerrado is home to thousands of species of plants and animals, and millions of people, including various indigenous communities. In 2015, it produced 45 million metric tons of soy and 74 million head of cattle. At the same time, however, it is being deforested faster than the Amazon.
Unfortunately, about half of the natural vegetation of the Cerrado has already been lost, and another 15 million hectares are projected to be deforested in the coming decades. Each year, deforestation in the Cerrado is responsible for an estimated 250 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions, equivalent to the annual emissions of 53 million cars. This contributes to rising temperatures, reduced rainfall, prolonged droughts, and more frequent fires, and compresses wildlife into increasingly smaller spaces, including jaguars, giant anteaters, maned wolves, and howler monkeys.