I wrote, in May, about a WWF-UK effort to protect the Cerrado in Brazil, a unique habitat that is being destroyed faster than the Amazon. WWF has gotten many UK supermarkets to help address the habitat destruction by agreeing to not buy soy connected to Cerrado destruction. But there’s still a long way to go. Here’s a useful infographic on the Cerrado, how we are destroying it, and what we can do to save it, followed by some more great questions and information by WWF.
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Now, as WWF is pushing, one great way to help stop the destruction of the Cerrado is by getting supermarkets to shut out products linked to its destruction. Here’s more from WWF (note that it’s targeted at UK consumers):
We’re encouraged to shop in a way that protects the planet. But what about our supermarkets? The purchasing decisions they make ultimately determine our own – and in some cases, are determining the future of the world’s most important places.
Take soya. Each year huge amounts are shipped to the UK and fed to our animals, ultimately ending up in all sorts of our supermarket products. Over 70% of this soya comes from South America, where an area the size of Yorkshire is needed just to grow enough soya for the UK market.
Demand for soya beans and soya products in general has risen dramatically in recent decades and is now affecting areas like the incredible Cerrado savannah in Brazil which holds 5% of all life on Earth. To save the Cerrado and areas like it around the world, we need farmers, businesses and civil society with differing interests to sit down and work together.
That’s why WWF is part of the Roundtable on Responsible Soy (RTRS) – an international organisation of soya producers, processors, buyer and other key people who have come together to work for better standards of soya production. RTRS requires that soya is not grown by clearing any native forest, helping to save other areas of high conservation value.
We’re now asking UK supermarkets to use their buying power positively and only source soya we know has come from independently certified sources. And we need you – the UK consumer – to use your own buying power to ask your supermarket to make this choice.
Please visit www.wwf.org.uk/cerrado and take action now.
Take action today. Even if you’re not in the UK, you can start bringing your supermarket’s attention to this issue and perhaps organize a group around it.
Related Stories:
- One of the Most Precious Ecosystems in the World Disappearing (Help Protect It)
- WWF – Fourfold increase in fires magnifies threat to Brazil’s Cerrado