Environmental challenge: Preserving Brazil’s cerrado
The cerrado is the second-largest of Brazil’s six biomes and the most direly threatened. It has lost over half of its original coverage and faces major challenges including the establishment of conservation units, the sustainable use of natural resources, the preservation of watersheds, the prevention and combat of forest fires, and monitoring.Stretching across 14 states and the Federal District, the cerrado is home to over 130 thousand springs, which makes it one of the country’s main water sources. Eight of Brazil’s 12 watersheds originate in the cerrado.According to Professor Isabel Belloni Schmidt from the Department of Ecology at the University of Brasília, the biome is Brazil’s water tank. “The cerrado is a vital water producer. The water from the cerrado—not only in the Federal ...