Jamil Chad Indigenous people ask Europe to include Cerrado in law against deforestation 11/16/2022 07:58

The Articulação dos Povos Indígenas do Brasil (APIB) and the National Coordination for the Articulation of Black Rural and Quilombola Communities (CONAQ) are asking the European Union to expand its anti-deforestation law and include in its measures not only tropical forests, but also Cerrado. .

European governments are currently working to create laws that prevent products from being imported from places that have been recently deforested. But the original law only mentions Amazon. In an initiative launched this Wednesday, groups are asking Europeans to expand their biome list.

“It is extremely important that climate negotiations take into account forests, but also savannas, grasslands, wetlands and all the different expressions of nature around the world,” they said. “These landscapes also contribute to the fight against climate change and are part of the solutions for a world with greater sustainability, inclusion and social justice,” the groups say.

Indigenous peoples and quilombolas said, “We urge the European Union to take urgent measures to prevent deforestation imported from forests, as well as imported deforestation from other local woodlands.

The groups remember Cerrado being “the richest savannah on the planet.” “Hundreds of indigenous peoples, cultures, and regions are home to quilombola, geraizeiros, and other traditional populations and cultures,” he said.

“It’s also the world’s largest agricultural border and has the biggest impact on imported soybeans in Europe. The monitoring tools are already in place to ensure Cerrado’s protection – all you need is political will,” they insist.

For him, the same goes for all other non-forest natural ecosystems: Pampas, Pantanal, Caatinga, and also the Atlantic Forest.

“If European regulation against deforestation is limited to protecting forests only, this will have very limited impact, because around 75% of Cerrado will remain unprotected,” the groups warn. “Also 76% of the Pantanal and Pampas and almost 90% of Caatinga. In addition, European legislation will still have the opposite effect as this will increase the devastation pressure on ecosystems and their people,” they conclude.

Fear, if it’s the law. limited to forests, the European regulation against deforestation would have the opposite effect of its original purpose.

It is estimated that with a European law, the measure would increase Cerrado’s protection from 26% to 82%, Pantanal’s protection from 24% to 42% and Caatinga’s protection from 11% to 93%. “Brazil’s Cerrado is losing about a million hectares each year, and that destruction is increasing,” they conclude.