The United Nations on Wednesday (26) named Brazil's Araticum network, a coalition dedicated to restoring the cerrado, the vast tropical savanna that covers much of central Brazil, as one of three global models for the recovery of degraded ecosystems. The announcement was made by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) at COP17, the UN conference on desertification held in Mongolia.
The award, called World Restoration Flagship, also went to initiatives in the Sahel region of Africa and in Saudi Arabia, areas that, like Brazil, face drought, desertification and the impacts of climate change. It is the second time a Brazilian restoration project has been selected for the prize, according to the newspaper Folha de S.Paulo.
"Investing in healthy land is one of our strongest defenses against these threats," said Inger Andersen, UNEP's executive director. "The three initiatives show that restoring ecosystems brings significant benefits for everyone, from food security and new jobs to greater resilience for millions of people."
The cerrado has already lost more than half of its native vegetation, largely to large-scale land conversion, Andersen said. The destruction of the biome, she added, harms Indigenous peoples, biodiversity, food production, water availability and climate resilience.
The winning network
Created in 2020, Araticum, short for Articulação pela Restauração do Cerrado (Articulation for the Restoration of the Cerrado), monitors 27,000 hectares of the biome. Its work spans the Federal District, where Brasília is located, and the states of Bahia, Goiás, Maranhão, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Piauí, São Paulo and Tocantins. Member organizations include the Cerrado Seed Network, which works in areas such as the Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park, in the state of Goiás.
The initiative combines natural regeneration, direct seeding, ecological restoration and agroforestry systems with native species, recovering forest, savanna and grassland areas. On its website, the network describes itself as a collaborative effort grounded in science, ancestral knowledge and the participation of traditional peoples and communities.
The UN recognition was also highlighted on Wednesday by WWF Brazil and by Embrapa, the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation, which said it is one of the initiative's supporters.