Brazil’s Cerrado biome home to 5% of world’s biodiversity

All throughout Brazil, celebrations are being held Wednesday (Sep 11) in observance of the Cerrado day. The biome is home five percent of the globe’s biodiversity.

The second biggest biome of South America, the cerrado is a melting-pot of biodiversity, with over 12 thousand plant species having been identified in it, in addition to thousands of different fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, butterflies, and other animals.

Preservation

Despite this variety, however, little more than eight percent of the Cerrado is legally protected by conservation units, as per data from the Environment Ministry. Most conservation units follow a sustainable use model.  Today, most territories in the Cerrado are used for the large-scale production of grains, like soybeans, corn, broom-corn.

University of Brasília geographer and professor Fernando Luiz Sobrinho argues a percentage of the total area should be preserved, even within the property in the Cerrado dedicated to agribusiness.