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Expanding the soy moratorium to Brazil's Cerrado

Abstract:
The Cerrado biome in Brazil is a tropical savanna and an important global biodiversity hot spot. Today, only a fraction of its original area remains undisturbed, and this habitat is at risk of conversion to agriculture, especially to soybeans. Here, we present the first quantitative analysis of expanding the Soy Moratorium (SoyM) from the Brazilian Amazon to the Cerrado biome. The SoyM expansion to the Cerrado would prevent the direct conversion of 3.6 million ha of native vegetation to soybeans by 2050. Nationally, this would require a reduction in soybean area of approximately 2%. Relative risk of future native vegetation conversion for soybeans would be driven by the Brazilian domestic market, China, and the European Union. We conclude that, to preserve the Cerrado's biodiversity and ecosystem services, urgent action is required, including a zero native vegetation conversion agreement such as the SoyM.
Publication status:
Published
Peer review status:
Peer reviewed

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Publisher copy:
10.1126/sciadv.aav7336

Authors

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Institution:
University of Oxford
Division:
MPLS
Department:
Biology
Role:
Author
ORCID:
0000-0003-3113-096X
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Role:
Author
ORCID:
0000-0001-8566-1593
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Role:
Author
ORCID:
0000-0002-0636-5380
More by this author
Role:
Author
ORCID:
0000-0001-8675-4046



Publisher:
American Association for the Advancement of Science
Journal:
Science Advances More from this journal
Volume:
5
Issue:
7
Article number:
eaav7336
Publication date:
2019-07-17
Acceptance date:
2019-06-13
DOI:
EISSN:
2375-2548
Pmid:
31328157


Language:
English
Keywords:
Pubs id:
1065052
Local pid:
pubs:1065052
Deposit date:
2024-03-04
ARK identifier:

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