Putting Leadership First: Capitec Foundation’s Decade of ImpactA recent study adds to growing literature showing that Indigenous lands and conservation units are much more effective at regulating climate than multiuse areas.
The state of Mato Grosso straddles two of Brazil’s largest biomes: The Amazon covers around two-thirds of the state, and the Cerrado covers the other third. Most of the remaining forest isBut Mato Grosso is also Brazil’s leading producer of soybeans and meat, and both have grown at the expense of the region’s native Cerrado and Amazon vegetation.
The paper uses various datasets to analyze how human and natural disturbances affect the ability of Indigenous lands, conservation units and private, multiuse areas to regulate things such as regional temperature and atmospheric water cycling.
Patchwork of legal forest reserves, pasture, and soy farms in the Brazilian Amazon in Mato Grosso. Image by Rhett A. Butler/Mongabay. “This highlights the critical importance of integrated approaches to conservation and land use that address both climate change and local human activities,” she told Mongabay.