Peoples: sustaining the Cerrado
Faced with so many threats to the Cerrado, local peoples and communities and family farmers are largely responsible for keeping the biome standing, such as the community of Dona Lúcia and the Kalunga women. These are the groups that teach us to coexist with respect and wisdom in the environment that surrounds us.
Wherever the Cerrado vegetation is preserved, that’s where the local peoples, communities, and family farmers are located. They are indigenous people, quilombola communities, artisanal fishermen and fisherwomen, geraizeiros, fundo and fecho de pasto communities, vazanteiros, and so many others who, for generations, have developed sustainable ways of occupying their territories. With their meticulous agricultural systems and strong connection to the biome’s landscapes, they also showcase a rich culture, dances, songs, and rituals linked to their traditional ways of life.
The livelihoods of these residents of the Cerrado region provide a landscape where cultivated areas, dwellings, pastures, and large areas of native vegetation coexist. Often, these territories are responsible for connecting protected areas or remnants. They thus contribute to the conservation of biodiversity, enabling the maintenance of the biome’s ecosystem services, such as water production, pollination, carbon storage, gene flow, among others.
It is communities like that of Dona Lúcia and the Kalunga women that guarantee diversity on the Brazilian table and the conservation of the Cerrado – as well as other biomes. Family farming is responsible for 70% of the food produced to feed the Brazilian population. It provides the basis of the national diet, with foods like beans, rice, cassava, fruits, and many others. It is the work done by local peoples and communities and family farmers that permeates agroecological and organic fairs, guaranteeing food security and teaching the country and the world that it is possible to generate income while conserving natural resources.