Before the year ends, we have an important message – Watch the video

The year 2023 is almost coming to an end. It went by fast, didn’t it? But before the year concludes, we have an important message.

Did you know that the Cerrado was the most devastated biome in 2023, becoming the most threatened biome in Brazil?

Considered the cradle of waters, the Cerrado harbors the headwaters of some of the country’s most important rivers, such as São Francisco, Tocantins, and Araguaia, as well as rivers that form the basins of the Amazon and Paraná. The biome occupies 24% of the national territory but has already lost about 50% of its native forest, and only 8.3% of its territory is protected.

Watch the video: ‘How Community Philanthropy Supports Cerrado Protection,’ a production by Casa Fund and ISPN with support from Comuá Network. Click on CC to enable English subtitles.

The Cerrado is also rich in culture and home to over 80 different indigenous peoples, as well as traditional communities such as quilombolas, extractivists, geraizeiros, coconut breakers, riverine dwellers, sertanejos, among others. These communities are guardians of great wisdom, as well as guardians of this biome.

Protecting the Cerrado is urgent, and community philanthropy, done in partnership with these local and traditional communities, proves to be an effective tool for this. The peoples of the Cerrado show us that it is possible to combine biome protection with social development by valuing traditional knowledge and local culture.

In September 2023, the Casa Socio-Environmental Fund and ISPN, with the support of Comuá Network, held the panel discussion ‘Dialogues on the Importance of Community Philanthropy in Cerrado Conservation and the Culture of its Peoples’ to debate how we can do more to strengthen the work of the peoples protecting the Cerrado.

The event took place in Brasília during the 10th Meeting and Fair of the Peoples of the Cerrado and was part of the Philanthropy that Transforms Month program. Various representatives from traditional communities, civil society organizations, government agencies, and representatives from the national and international philanthropic system were present.

Among the main topics discussed at the event was the lack of resources for the peoples of the Cerrado. Even in the face of threats suffered by important biomes such as the Amazon and the Pantanal, we must not forget our cradle of waters.

We hope that in 2024, the world will have a more careful look at the Cerrado and its peoples and that more resources and support will be mobilized from all sectors of national and international philanthropy, private social investment, and all spheres of public power, to protect this biome.

Happy holidays, and long live the Cerrado and its peoples!!!