What is the challenge?
The Cerrado is the most biodiverse savanna in the world. Yes, you’ve heard us right. Yet, similarly to what is happening to the Amazon, the Cerrado is seriously threatened. More than half of the entire biome has disappeared to give place pastures and large monocultures in the past decades. Yet, the world depends on the Cerrado for its role as a climate regulator and habitat for unique biodiversity, South Americas and Brazil depends on it for their water, and local communities depend on the bountiful food and medicines that the Cerrado provides.
Wildfires are adding to the challenge. Climate change and human action are making wildfires more frequent and more intense. This year, fires have already ravaged over 30,000 hectares of the Chapada dos Veadeiros territory, and the dry season is not over yet and the risk of more fire is very high.
What are we proposing?
Brave women and men have been fighting these wildfires with their own hands in the Chapada dos Veadeiros landscape. In 2017, the Chapada dos Veadeiros experienced the largest fire ever recorded, destroying more than 70 thousand hectares of pristine vegetation. At this point, local volunteers in the municipality of Cavalcante formed the “Cavalcante Volunteer Fire Brigade (BRIVAC)” to promote fire prevention and to fight fires in this large municipality.
These volunteer “firefighters” have been putting their lives at risk to help salve what little remains of one of the most critical ecosystems in the entire planet. They need your help to continue doing this tiring and risky job.
For this reason, we from the Buritis Brooks Nature Reserve (veredasdosburitis.org), partnered with BRIVAC to raise funds for their activities. The Buritis Reserve is a private reserve in Cavalcante dedicated to the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of the Cerrado. The Reserve also aims to catalyze funds and partnerships to support the conservation of the Cerrado in the Chapada dos Veadeiros. This is the first crowdsourcing campaign we run.
How can you help?
Funds raised will bereverted to BRIVAC (Cavalcante Volunteer Fire Brigade) to support their operational costs, including the purchase of personal protective equipment, operational costs of firefighting activities (such as food and transport) and life insurance to the volunteer firefighters.
We count on your support to help save the most biodiverse savanna in the world!
📸 Fotos originais: Ana Karla / BRIVAC / C. Eduardo / Bruna Braz / Filipe Mendes
