Today is the Day: Cerrado biome, cradle of the waters, is celebrated this Sunday

Pequi, jatobá, araticum, baru, murici, guava, soursop, mangaba, buritis, ipês… This Sunday (11), is Cerrado Day, and it will be the motivation for more reflections on preservation against pollution and deforestation.

It cannot be recognized as just gray savanna vegetation. In prose, João Guimarães Rosa celebrated the Cerrado as a true character, for example, in Grande Sertão: Veredas (published in 1956). The writer from Minas Gerais highlighted, already at that time of the 20th century, that the natural profusion should be specially protected because it could be threatened.

Today is the day: Photo: Archive / Brazil Agency

The veredas oasis, a waterlogged area announced by buritis, could not be buried by the large estates. A biome that does not have the same opulence of tall trees as the Amazon Forest ends up not having the same visibility or knowledge of the population. As the poet based in the Cerrado of Brasília, Nicolas Behr, says: “Not everything that is crooked is wrong / look at the legs of Garrincha / and the trees of the Cerrado”

The importance of the deep-rooted tree biome, which is found in 15 Brazilian states, in 22% of the national territory and which feeds eight of the 12 major Brazilian river basins, can be better known in journalistic materials and programs from the Empresa Brasil de Comunicação (EBC).

Specialists consulted for these materials explain that the Cerrado vegetation absorbs rainwater and deposits it in underground reserves, the aquifers. Therefore, the biome is considered the cradle of the waters.

Five years ago, the program Reporting Pathsgives TV Brazilhighlighted A sip of Cerrado, emphasizing the fact that it is in the biome where the waters of the Tocantins, Parnaíba and São Francisco river basins are born. At the same time, he warned of the risks of deterioration due to the disorderly occupation of the land and deforestation due to the construction of cities and railways, for example, or due to economic activities, such as agriculture. The program estimated that at least 50% of native vegetation has been destroyed since the 1970s.

Check out the full program below.

The construction of Brasília itself, inaugurated in 1960 in the Goiás area, had an impact on the environment, which also occurs with the expansion of capital. The Reporting Paths highlights solutions, such as cerrado preservation and reforestation projects. “The Cerrado is 65 million years old. Of all the environments in the planet’s recent history, the cerrado is the oldest. It has already reached its evolutionary climax. Which means that, once degraded, it never recovers in the fullness of its biodiversity”, said the anthropologist Altair Barbosa.

“The cerrado is a biome within several biomes. For example: the buriti. It grows in flooded paths. The mangaba: in the high mountains and in the sandy terrain. So, the technological package you make for mangaba is not good for the What you do for buriti is not good for mangaba”, explained, at the time, agronomist Elainy Pereira, who created a forest with Cerrado species in the city of Goiânia (GO).

In 2015, the program Reporter Brazil had highlighted a special on the water crisis in the country, and the importance of projects to preserve the Cerrado. Specialists on the subject explained the relationship between environmental care and the water that comes to our taps.

Watch the Reporter Brasil program below

in the collection of EBC radios, the emphasis on the biome unites alerts for preservation and concrete actions for solutions for the regions. The program national afternoon, for example, highlighted the mechanisms for monitoring fauna and flora in the Brasília Botanical Garden, a complex and daily action. Listen below.

Other products on the environment can be visited in the program Rural Brazil gives National Radio. One of the examples is the work carried out by the Association of Seed Collectors of Chapada dos Veadeiros Cerrado de Pé, in São Jorge, region of Alto Paraíso (GO), which works in seed collection and direct marketing.

It is an entity that works to generate income for families in the community, which range from settlements to the Kalunga quilombo. listen below

Check here other materials about the Cerrado in the EBC Radios collection

Also read at Agência Brasil more about the biome

120 years of Juscelino Kubitschek

Today is the Day – Juscelino Kubitschek, Brasília – Federal Government Disclosure

Speaking of Cerrado, another date that should be remembered this week is the birth date (120 years ago) of the former president Juscelino Kubitschek (1902 – 1976), which took the capital to Brasília. in the collection of EBC radiosthere are historical relics, such as the episode of Frazão’s stories, in which he sings “Elvira, listen”, an old-fashioned serenade.

This week (on the 16th), another date linked to the environment is the subject of reflection: the International Day for the Protection of the Ozone Layer. This natural filter interferes with our daily lives. On the Earth’s surface, ozone contributes to urban air pollution and acid rain. But at the heights of the stratosphere (between 25 and 30 km above the surface), it is a pro-life filter. Without it, ultraviolet rays could annihilate all life on the planet. Learn more about the topic here.

Cesium-137

A tragedy should also be remembered this week: the biggest Brazilian radioactive accident (with Cesium-137) turns 35 years old. In 1987, the city of Goiânia lived a tragic experience with four dead and hundreds of people with sequelae due to radiation. Check out the special report below. TV Brazil.

To learn more about the radioactive tragedy, check out EBC’s journalistic materials

Check out the weekly list of Hoje é Dia with dates, historical facts and holidays