Rio de Janeiro (AFP) – The Cerrado biome, in central Brazil, is undoubtedly one of the world’s most important little-known places: vast tropical savannahs, key to the planet’s health but rapidly disappearing.
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Here are some facts about this savannah.
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Located southeast of the Amazon rainforest, the Cerrado is one of the three great savannas on Earth, along with the forests of Africa and Australia.
The area extends over two million square kilometers, reaching Bolivia and Paraguay on its western side, and is equivalent to the area of France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom combined.
“cradle of water”
According to UNESCO, the Cerrado is the most biodiverse savannah in the world, home to more than 11,000 plant species and hundreds of animal species, including jaguars, wolves and anteaters.
Nicknamed the “Cradle of Water,” this river feeds eight of South America’s major river systems and three major aquifers.
Associated with Amazon
Scientists confirm that the Cerrado and the Amazon are closely linked.
Savannas depend on rainforests to generate rainfall that fills their rivers and aquifers. The rainforest, in turn, depends on the savannah to feed the waterways that pass through its southern part.
Both play a crucial role in containing climate change by absorbing carbon from the atmosphere.
Conversely, both could speed it up if they reach a “tipping point” at which their plants die and release their carbon reserves, according to experts.
From nature to agriculture
In recent decades, the Cerrado has become an important agricultural region, allowing Brazil to replace the United States as the world’s leading exporter of soybeans, as well as corn this year. Likewise, it has become one of the major producers of cotton.
side effects
But the rise of agribusiness, a key growth engine for Latin America’s largest economy, comes at a cost.
According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), converting the Cerrado to farmland generates 230 million tons of carbon annually, equivalent to the annual emissions of 50 million cars.
In a region that environmentalists say is suffering from drought due to deforestation, over-irrigation and climate change, Brazilian space agency Enppi recorded nearly 40,000 fires this year.
© 2023 Agence France-Presse
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