RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Expanding the Soy Moratorium to Brazil’s Cerrado
JF Science Advances
JO Sci Adv
FD American Association for the Advancement of Science
SP eaav7336
DO 10.1126/sciadv.aav7336
VO 5
IS 7
A1 Soterroni, Aline C.
A1 Ramos, Fernando M.
A1 Mosnier, Aline
A1 Fargione, Joseph
A1 Andrade, Pedro R.
A1 Baumgarten, Leandro
A1 Pirker, Johannes
A1 Obersteiner, Michael
A1 Kraxner, Florian
A1 Câmara, Gilberto
A1 Carvalho, Alexandre X. Y.
A1 Polasky, Stephen
YR 2019
UL http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/5/7/eaav7336.abstract
AB 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.