By Jake Spring
SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Deforestation in the world’s most biodiverse savanna, the Brazilian Cerrado, rose by around 25% in the 12 months through July from the previous period, two people familiar with the still unreleased government data told Reuters.
Brazil has yet to publish its official annual figures for Cerrado deforestation, based on satellite analysis by the government’s space research agency Inpe. The sources requested anonymity as the data is not yet public.
Such an increase would mean more than 10,000 square kilometers (3,861 square miles) of forest and other native savanna vegetation were destroyed in the 12 months, the most since 2015.
Scientists liken the Cerrado to an upside-down forest because its plants sink deep roots into the ground to survive intense dry seasons. Destroying this habitat rich in plant and animal species also sends large amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, driving climate change.
The Cerrado neighbors the Amazon rainforest in central Brazil, occupying more than 2 million square kilometers – an area larger than Mexico.
With the advance of Brazil’s agricultural frontier since the 1970s, much of the Cerrado has been cut down to raise cattle and grow soybeans and corn, destroying roughly half of the savanna’s native vegetation.
Advisors to President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who takes office on Jan. 1, have met with the soy industry to discuss a new pact to stop deforestation in the Cerrado savanna, modeled on a similar agreement for the Amazon.
The sources discussed Cerrado deforestation data from Brazil’s PRODES program, which produces annual data that is far more accurate than rapid alert data published on a weekly and monthly basis.
The program measures deforestation in the region from August to July to minimize clouds obscuring the destruction.
(Reporting by Jake Spring; Additional reporting by Lisandra Paraguassu; Editing by Brad Haynes and Marguerita Choy)
