The only exclusive biome in Brazil, the Caatinga is not considered national heritage

A caatinga It is the only exclusively Brazilian biome, with biodiversity adapted to high temperatures and lack of water. The biome occupies an area of ​​approximately 826.411km² and presents a rich flora and fauna restricted to the biome. 

According to the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MMA), there are more than a thousand species whose conservation status is known, of which more than a hundred are threatened with extinction.

When it comes to flora, there are almost five thousand – among which the conservation status is known, 30% are also threatened with extinction at some level. 

Deforestation and historical issues

The Caatinga had the second highest percentage increase in the deforestation rate from 2020 to 2021 – an increase of almost 90%. Crateús (CE) — where most of the Serra das Almas Private Natural Heritage Reserve (RPPN) is located — is among the five municipalities that had the largest deforested area in Ceará in 2021, according to a survey presented by MapBiomas.

Geography professor Igor Paiani explains that the Caatinga makes an important contribution to the maintenance of other biomes in Brazil, such as Amazon and Atlantic forest, representing a kind of mosaic that separates the two main tropical forests.

“We can also highlight the Caatinga as one of the main natural elements that directly contributed to the construction of northeastern identity, like the culture of the Northeastern Sertão itself”, says Igor Paiani.

Caatinga and the importance of being protected

A completely national biome that represents around 11% of the Brazilian territory. The Caatinga, which in Tupi means “white forest”, is present in the Northeast region and in the north of Minas Gerais.

Despite its importance, according to the Federal Constitution, the Caatinga is not considered a national heritage. In other words, it does not receive special protection treatment, even though this is the only exclusively Brazilian biome. 

According to professor Igor Paiani, the Caatinga needs to be considered a national heritage to guarantee the “constant preservation of the biome, which would directly contribute to local biodiversity”, in addition to significantly strengthening the landscape from a cultural and identity perspective for the people of the Northeast.

Currently, less than 9% of the biome is legally protectedthem at some level. But the percentage of full protection is even worse: only around 2%, according to data from the MMA.

The study "The use of land in Brazilian biomes” shows that the deforestation in the Caatinga, in recent years, is linked to the consumption of firewood for domestic and industrial purposes, pastoralism and subsistence agriculture. 

Environmental and cultural forgetfulness

The lack of recognition of the Caatinga by environmental bodies is a historical issue, in the opinion of professor Igor Paiani. And some myths and false attributions to the biome amplify the problem.

According to Paiani, there is a mistaken attempt to relate the poverty of the northeastern population as a consequence of local ecology and not as a political and economic problem.

“These elements systematically contribute to the biome being constantly ignored, due to the fact that it is related to the “underdevelopment” of the region”.

Furthermore, there is the advancement of the agricultural frontier in Brazil, which has the MATOPIBA region — Maranhão, Tocantins, Piauí and Bahia — as a very current stage for the advancement of agribusiness. The soybean monoculture present in the region is a factor in biome degradation, also resulting in conflicts in the countryside.

For more than 10 years, the proposal that attempts to recognize the Caatinga as a national heritage has been pending in the National Congress. A Constitutional Amendment Proposal (PEC) 504/2010 It was approved in the Senate in 2010, but is still awaiting analysis in the Chamber of Deputies.

@curtonews

Even though it is exclusive to Brazil, the Caatinga is not considered national heritage and, increasingly, appears at the top of deforestation lists.

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