EXCLUSIVE-Deforestation of Brazilian savanna surged some 25% in a year, sources say

By Jake Spring

SAO PAULO, Dec 13 (Reuters) – Deforestation in the
world’s most biologically diverse 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.

Inpe declined to comment. A third source not authorized to
speak to the media said the data would be released on Wednesday.

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.

“More than 10,000 square km is a scary number,” said
Mercedes Bustamante, an ecologist at University of Brasilia.

She said that the data might lead the European Union to
reconsider its

recently agreed law

prohibiting companies from buying products linked to
deforestation, which does not apply to most of the Cerrado.

Bustamante said the policies of outgoing President Jair
Bolsonaro to weaken environmental protections had contributed to
more destruction in the Cerrado, as in the Amazon rainforest.
The Cerrado neighbors the Amazon, occupying more than 2 million
square kilometers in central Brazil - larger than Mexico.

Bolsonaro’s office did not immediately respond to
request for comment.

President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who takes
office on Jan. 1, has pledged to end deforestation in the
country by 2030, with plans to reverse Bolsonaro’s policies and
strengthen environmental law enforcement.

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 biome rich in plant and
animal species sends large amounts of carbon dioxide into the
atmosphere, driving climate change.

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.

“The Cerrado has a unique richness of species and … has
been devastated at a frightening pace in recent decades,” said
Mariana Napolitano, science manager at advocacy group
WWF-Brasil.

FARM-DRIVEN DEFORESTATION

The Brazilian savanna is now a major concern for top
grains traders, who have broadly

pledged to eliminate deforestation

from their supply chains by 2025.

Under Brazil’s forestry code, landowners in the Cerrado
can deforest up to 80% of their land legally, depending on the
location, compared with 20% in the Amazon. But the vast majority
of the deforestation remains illegal as many farmers skip
bureaucratic process of getting permits to clear their legal
quota.

Advisors to Lula have met with the soy industry
representatives to discuss a new pact to stop deforestation in
the Cerrado savanna, modeled on a similar agreement for the
Amazon.

“Consumers of agricultural products, especially beef and
soy, have a lot of difficulty knowing the origin of their
products,” said Yuri Salmona, director of the Brazilian
non-profit Cerrados Institute.

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.

An Inpe official said earlier this year that Brazil would
soon stop publishing PRODES Cerrado data due to lack of funding.
On Wednesday, the space research agency said in a statement that
it had received 15 million reais ($2.83 million) from a
government-run science fund to continue monitoring the Cerrado
for three years.

($1 = 5.3064 reais)
(Reporting by Jake Spring
Additional reporting by Lisandra Paraguassu
Editing by Brad Haynes and Marguerita Choy)