Improving the sustainable management of the Brazilian Cerrados through quantifying and valorising ecosystem services of autochthonous silvopastoral systems
Third-party funded project by BLE (2022 – 2025)
Mission
Project Goal
The Brazilian Cerrado is a savanna of global importance. It is severely threatened by agricultural expansion and forest conversion into intensively managed pastures. Autochthonous silvopastoral systems (SPS) are a more sustainable alternative, yet financially less profitable than intensively managed systems under current conditions.
The project aims to contribute to the sustainable management of the Cerrado through quantification and valorisation of ecosystem services provided by SPS, and through monetizing these services via SPS product labels and certification, value-added processing of non-timber forest products, and carbon credits. This will improve the profitability of SPS relative to other land uses. Specifically, the project will (1) map the current and model the future distribution of SPS under climate change and management scenarios; (2) quantify and valuate the ecosystem services they provide; (3) assess the factors determining their adoption and management; (4) develop business cases to monetize ecosystem services provided by SPS; and (5) develop policy recommendations and decision support. The project will furthermore build the capacity of extension agents and farmers, and the scientific expertise of German and Brazilian junior and senior researchers.
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