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One Planet: Saving Cerrado

Factual: Science & Nature

19/08/2010

Saving Cerrado

BBC World Service - One Planet, Saving Cerrado

One Planet reports on efforts to save a unique Brazilian ecosystem from destruction.

One Planet reports on efforts to save a unique Brazilian ecosystem. With 5% of the world's flora and fauna, Brazil's Cerrado region is being destroyed at twice the speed of the Amazon rainforest.

Taking up one quarter of Brazil's land mass, the Cerrado lacks the high profile of the Amazon or its celebrity supporters, making it easier for the fast expanding sugarcane and soya industries to take bigger bites out of the savannah. That can mean the loss of unique species and the destruction of traditional ways of life in the region.

For One Planet, Tim Hirsch visits the Cerrado to hear from local people who are trying to save their land by making it pay. Ice creams flavoured with unusual Cerrado fruits and bird-watching holidays for British tourists may not be able to compete with large-scale farming but locals hope they'll give the area the publicity it needs for real protection.

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