Activism: save the cerrado, starting at your supermarket

Posted By jlhance on May 9, 2011 in Environment

Note: mongabay.com does not endorse the action below, but believes its readers may be interested in taking action or discussing the issue in comments.

Save the Cerrado from WWF-UK on Vimeo.

South America’s great savanna the cerrado is under siege by agriculture and cattle ranching. Half of the ecosystem has vanished in the last 50 years. Now the first ‘green’ soy is being released by the International Round Table on Responsible Soy (RTRS) a multi-stakeholder initiative that has set environmental standards for the soya industry. WWF is asking UK consumers to push their supermarkets to carry RTRS produced foods.

WWF UK action: Your supermarket can help save the Cerrado.

According to WWF: “The Cerrado isn’t as high-profile as the Amazon, but this vast Brazilian savannah is being destroyed even faster than that famous rainforest. Yet the Cerrado is rich with thousands of wild plants and unique animals, on its own responsible for 5% of the world’s biodiversity. And right now, you and your supermarket can help save the Cerrado and other places like it. ”

For more information on the cerrado:

Conversion of Brazil’s cerrado slows

(04/08/2011) Destruction of Brazil’s cerrado, a woody savanna that covers 20 percent of the country, slowed during the 2008-2009, reports Brazil’s Ministry of Environment.

Brazil’s largest national bank signs zero deforestation pact for Amazon soy

(12/03/2010) Banco do Brasil, Brazil’s largest state-owned bank, announced it has joined a zero deforestation pact for soy grown in the Amazon. The bank will now require farmers applying for credit to certify the origin of their soybeans.

Brazil’s cerrado wins protection, but will it be enough to save the wildlife-rich grassland?

(09/15/2010) Brazil announced a plan to protect the cerrado, the vast woody savanna that covers 20 percent of the country but has become the nation’s biggest single source of carbon emissions due to conversion for agriculture and cattle pasture, reports Brazil’s Ministry of the Environment.