The Cerrado is a key biome for Brazil’s economic development, food production, maintenance of water cycles, preservation of biodiversity, and for global climate change mitigation and adaptation. Notwithstanding its importance, the biome is often overlooked within the national and international climate change debates. The current rate of conversion in the Cerrado is not sustainable, releasing a previously unaccounted volume of carbon dioxide
Overlooking vegetation loss outside forests imperils the Brazilian Cerrado and other non-forest biomes
The global emphasis on halting forest loss has failed to recognize the biodiversity and ecosystem services provision of non-forest biomes such as the Brazilian Cerrado. Here, we stress the urgent need to address their destruction, including at the upcoming UN...