The Cerrado is the origin of foods, medicines, scents, and crafts that form part of Brazil’s identity — such as pequi, baru, babaçu, buriti, and golden grass. These products not only sustain people and local economies but also preserve ways of life, histories, and deep relationships between peoples and landscapes. Our work strengthens value chains that honor this diversity by supporting chain structuring, cooperative governance, leadership training, community entrepreneurship, and access to sustainable markets in Brazil and abroad.

We also build and strengthen networks that expand this recognition, such as the Cerrado Network, the Central do Cerrado, and Osóciobio (the Observatory of Sociobiodiversity Economies). Through these partnerships, we help ensure that communities have autonomy over their territories, can sell their products at fair prices, and have their rights known, recognized, and respected. By reinforcing these value chains, we not only increase income 

The Cerrado is currently Brazil’s most pressured frontier of deforestation — but it has already been proven that we can continue producing at the same or even higher levels without cutting down a single additional tree. That’s why we work to halt the opening of new deforested areas, promoting an agricultural transition that makes better use of already cleared land. Our efforts focus on restoring degraded pastures, boosting productivity without deforestation, and strengthening management practices that conserve soil and water. In practice, this means showing that it is possible to produce efficiently, preserve the biome, and sustain rural economies in the long term.

We also engage companies in the soy, beef, and leather supply chains — in Brazil and international markets — encouraging them to adopt commitments and monitoring systems that ensure truly deforestation-free supply chains. At the same time, we advocate for public and regulatory policies that protect the biome and defend the territorial rights of communities directly affected by unregulated expansion.

Restoration in the Cerrado is more than replanting vegetation — it’s about rebuilding the relationships between land, water, and people. We work with local communities, Indigenous Peoples, seed collectors, technicians, and managers to promote inclusive restoration that respects and integrates traditional knowledge with scientific expertise. This strengthens community bonds, creates income opportunities, and ensures that recovery is also a process of territorial autonomy.

When the Cerrado regenerates, biodiversity flourishes, ecosystems become more resilient to climate change, and life reconnects in its many forms. To restore is to cultivate the future — rebuilding landscapes that nurture, sustain, and inspire, ensuring that future generations can also experience the richness of this unique biome.

For conservation to advance at scale, technical knowledge alone is not enough — the financial system must recognize the value of nature. That’s why we work to ensure that banks, funds, and credit institutions adopt zero-deforestation policies, linking financing and investments to conservation commitments. When credit rewards those who conserve, sustainable practices cease to be exceptions and begin to set the standard.

We develop and strengthen innovative financial mechanisms that offer advantageous credit for deforestation-free production and for converting degraded pastures into productive land. We also foster partnerships to support large-scale restoration and to promote an economy that sees nature as an asset, not an obstacle. Green finance is the key to transforming the Cerrado from an agricultural frontier into a territory of the future.