Supporting initiatives for the conservation of the Cerrado predates the creation of Humanize, in 2017. Through Private Social Investment (ISP), support for the Sertões Project (“Projeto Sertões” in Portuguese) contributed to strengthening Conservation Units and developing socio-biodiversity productive chains in the Sertão Veredas Peruaçu Protected Areas Mosaic.

In the first strategic cycle of Humanize operations, we consolidated the Cerrado as one of the priority biomes for our work, by promoting the structuring of production chains, linking supply and demand. We also seek to promote knowledge about the biome, constantly encouraging research – which can bring local population closer to the biome’s potential, as well as educate people from all over Brazil.

The actions go beyond that and consider the Cerrado’s present and future. Many plans arise from challenges that reveal themselves in the more than 2 million km² over which the biome extends. It is in the states of Goiás, Minas Gerais, Bahia, Maranhão, Piauí, Goiás, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Tocantins, among others – the first three are priority for Humanize’s actions.

Even considered the most life-rich savanna region on the planet, the biome has already lost much of its natural wealth. According to the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa), today less than 48% of the original vegetation is totally or partially conserved – from the second half of the 20th century onwards, deforestation intensified with the growth of agriculture, which reinforces the importance of initiatives such as alliances, projects and research that have the conservation of the Cerrado at the center of their activities.

Taking into account wealth and obstacles, Humanize believes that the Institute can be part of a virtuous cycle of experiences in order to collaborate with the biome and the people who live there.