Brazil and U.S. partner up to save the Cerrado savanna

One year ago, the Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park — one of Brazil’s most beautiful, featuring over 10,000 kinds of plants and 1,500 species of animals — was partially destroyed by arson. A massive fire spread across the reserve, allegedly started by landowners in the region. While the culprits remain unidentified and unpunished, environmental institutions have joined forces with civil society in a bid to protect the reserve.

The Mosaic Veadeiros-Paranã project intends to monitor 42 protected areas — from indigenous lands, territories belonging to quilombolas (traditional slave communities), federal, municipal, and state conservation units — as well as private reserves. “Twenty protected areas are already formally under our care, which is a considerable number. If the project contributes to improving administration in these areas, it will be a huge advance,” says Fernando Tatabiga, a biologist who serves as the park’s director. Unfortunately, though, it will be hard to get all 42 lands under the project.

The area will be monitored in a “mosaic” model, which tries to integrate...