Cerrado, Truly Precious Ecosystem, Under Threat {Take Action}

Ever heard of the Cerrado? I can’t get on you if haven’t, since I hadn’t until a week or two ago myself. But this truly precious ecosystem is home to approximately 5% of the world’s species, and (the not good news is) it has been cut in half in the last 40 years (an area greater in size than the UK, Germany, Italy and Portugal combined has been destroyed).

A representative of WWF UK recently contacted me about this issue and a campaign and petition they had come up with to help save the Cerrado. Modeled, it seems, on a similar campaign led by Greenpeace that helped to dramatically cut deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon, I thought their efforts had some true promise and am doing my best to help spread the word and encourage others to take action.

cerrado brazil photo

What is the petition/campaign, exactly?

Well, maybe I should start with how the Cerrado is being destroyed. It is being destroyed largely from soy (or ‘soya’ in the UK) farming. 80% of this soy is being fed to livestock, and especially chickens. This soy and meat from the livestock are being sold to supermarkets and consumers around the world.

WWF UK is asking people to get involved in demanding that leading supermarkets (in the UK, to start) stop selling products that are connected to Cerrado destruction. For one, you can stop buying any such products. But, to have an even stronger impact, you can also send an email to the heads of 6 major UK supermarkets (via the petition below).

The Cerrado, as you could see in the very cool hand shadow film above and from my few sentences on it, is a tremendously unique and valuable ecosystem that needs our help. Visit WWF UK to learn more about the Cerrado and stay up-to-date on the campaign.

Related Stories:

  1. Deforestation Rates in Brazilian Amazon Dropped 47% in August
  2. 80% of Amazon Deforestation Stems from Cattle Ranching
  3. Greenpeace Praises Brazil
  4. Amazon Says Goodbye to World’s Largest Meat Exporter
  5. World’s Largest Leather Exporter Backs Out of Amazon
  6. 14,000 Barrel Oil Spill in Ecuador’s Amazon Rainforest

Image via Daniel Zanini H.

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