2.7 – Cerrado

The Federal District is completely within the Cerrado biome. This is the second largest biome in South America, covering more than 200 million hectares, about 22% of the Brazilian territory. Its continuous area extends into the states of Goiás, Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Bahia, Maranhão, Piauí, Rondônia, Paraná, São Paulo and the Federal District, besides enclaves in Amapá, Roraima and Amazonas.

The Cerrado is known as “the water cradle of Brazil” since it covers zones in the plane. The region has many fountainheads and important areas of water replenishment that contribute to a large part of Brazil’s basins. It is known as the savannah richest in biodiversity on the planet, a fact that, associated with the high risk of losing the habitat, has led to the biome being considered a world hotspot for biodiversity conservation.

The Cerrado has gone through intense transformations in the last decades, being, next to the Atlantic Rainforest, the Brazilian biome that has undergone the most change due to human occupation. The expansion of farming, industrial infrastructure, exploration of natural resources, besides heavy population growth, have caused intense changes to the use and occupation of the land. It has been estimated that there has been a loss of 40% of its natural vegetation cover. In the Federal District, this number reaches almost 60% of the natural vegetation cover having been removed.

The intense urban growth in the Federal District, due to the construction of Brasilia in the 1960s and the development of agricultural techniques that improved the cultivation of grains in the 1970s, were the main drivers in the removal of the natural cover.

Not only is the biodiversity affected with the degradation of the Cerrado. It also provides a gambit of ecosystemic services¹, such as the cycling of nutrients, replenishment of aquifers, regulation of water flow, among others, which are compromised. This affects the quality of life of the population and the sustainability of economic and social activity in the region.