IUCN World Heritage Outlook: https://worldheritageoutlook.iucn.org/ Cerrado Protected Areas: Chapada dos Veadeiros and Emas National Parks - 2020 Conservation Outlook Assessment Cerrado Protected Areas: Chapada dos Veadeiros and Emas National Parks 2020 Conservation Outlook Assessment SITE INFORMATION Country: Brazil Inscribed in: 2001 Criteria: (ix) (x) The two sites included in the designation contain flora and fauna and key habitats that characterize the Cerrado – one of the world’s oldest and most diverse tropical ecosystems. For millennia, these sites have served as refuge for several species during periods of climate change and will be vital for maintaining the biodiversity of the Cerrado region during future climate fluctuations. © UNESCO SUMMARY 2020 Conservation Outlook Finalised on 02 Dec 2020 GOOD WITH SOME CONCERNS Overall, the key habitats and species that characterize the Cerrado ecoregion and the key role in maintaining its biodiversity in the Cerrado Protected Areas Wolrd Heritage site have remained in an excellent conservation status since the site was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2001, despite the suspension of expansion of the boundaries of Chapada dos Veadeiros NP in 2003 and the large fires occurring in 2017. However, there is considerable concern regarding threats posed to the site, since mitigation of most of them, particularly potential threats generated outside, is beyond the capacity of the site management. Current threats inside the site, including fires and to a lower extent tourism, are being addressed through proper management responses. The re-expansion of the CdVNP in 20017 represents a very positive step and addressing the longstanding requests by the World Heritage Committee to reinstate appropriate legal protection regime over the entire World Heritage site. However, some issues remain to be addressed, including updating the management plan according to the new boundaries and finalization of the land regularization process. IUCN World Heritage Outlook: https://worldheritageoutlook.iucn.org/ Cerrado Protected Areas: Chapada dos Veadeiros and Emas National Parks - 2020 Conservation Outlook Assessment FULL ASSESSMENT Description of values Values World Heritage values ▶ Key habitats and species that characterize the Cerrado Criterion:(x) Ecoregion Cerrado Protected Areas (CPA) contains samples of all key habitats that characterize the Cerrado ecoregion – one of Earth’s oldest tropical ecosystems. Located in the Brazilian highland central plateau, both national parks are considered as the richest tropical savanna region in the world due to diversity of habitats and richness in species. It contains over 60% of all floral species described for the Cerrado, with between 350 and 400 species of vascular plants per hectare, including many endemic plants. It also contains almost 80% of all vertebrate species described for the Cerrado. With the exception of the Giant Otter, all of the Cerrado’s endangered large mammals occur in the site, such as the giant anteater, giant armadillo, maned wolf, jaguar and pampas deer, but also the rhea, the largest bird of South America. In addition, the site supports many rare small mammals and bird species that do not occur elsewhere in the Cerrado and a number of species new to science have been discovered in CPA (World Heritage Committee, 2015). ▶ Key role in maintaining the biodiversity of the Cerrado Criterion:(ix) Ecoregion The area has played a key role in maintaining the biodiversity of the Cerrado Ecoregion. Due it its central location and altitudinal variation, it has acted as a relatively stable species refuge when climate change has caused the Cerrado to move north-south or east-west. This role as a species refuge is ongoing as Earth enters another period of climate change. The site is also extremely important in maintaining the hydrological regime as, due to its geological features and soils, it is proving to be a key area for aquifer recharge and the alimentation of several watercourses that supply power to the Amazon basin and the Pantanal, in the basin of La Plata (World Heritage Committee, 2015). Other important biodiversity values ▶ Adaptation to climate change CPA is a key site for Cerrado species adapting to climate change. CPA is very important as a base from which key species of fauna can move out to re-populate surrounding areas and remaining “islands” of natural and semi-natural vegetation within the Cerrado ecoregion (IUCN, 2001). ▶ Ecological connectivity CPA is included in the Cerrado-Pantanal biological corridor, which aims to conserve local mammal populations in the long term between Cerrado and Pantanal. Assessment information Threats IUCN World Heritage Outlook: https://worldheritageoutlook.iucn.org/ Cerrado Protected Areas: Chapada dos Veadeiros and Emas National Parks - 2020 Conservation Outlook Assessment Current Threats High Threat Although the last State of Conservation Report indicates there are not significant threats to the Cerrado Protected Areas and particularly to Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park (State Party of Brazil, 2019a), hints of significant pressure are acknowledged outside of the property, compromising the values related to biodiversity, habitat, water security and ecological connectivity. Current threats to the Cerrado Protected Areas values persist since the last assessment in 2017, as a result of agriculture, cattle ranching, fire and tourism. Each source has different scales, intensities and effects on the conservation values. Agriculture and cattle ranching are present all over the protected area´s surroundings, with its subsequent effects on biodiversity. Despite tourism showing localized impacts with low intensity, the increasing number of visitors without an improvement of management capacity could represent increasing impacts and risks to the area. Real estate and speculation interests is also a cause of conflict in CdVNP. Fires have been more severe in the last years, nonetheless, an integrated fire management would allow an approach to control fire as a natural factor required for ecosystem conservation of Cerrado´s ecosystems. ▶ Fire/ Fire Suppression Very High Threat (Fires from grasslands) Inside site, widespread(15-50%) Outside site Fires are a significant threat to both components of the Cerrado Protected Areas, i.e. Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park (CdVNP) and Emas National Park (ENP) during the dry season (July to September), especially by the increasing intensity and frequency of conflagrations originated by human activities. Just in 2017, a megafire burned 504 km2 of the CdVNP (Fidelis et al., 2018). Significant resources were mobilized through inter-agency cooperation to combat this threat and the Integrated Fire Management approach implemented in the property contributed to maintaining certain areas as refuges for fauna (State Party of Brazil, 2018; UNESCO, 2019). By September 30th 2019, a group of volunteers reported that over 6,000 hectares of land had been affected by a forest fire, which included 3,000 hectares in this National Park (GardaWorld, 2019). However, fire is necessary for flowering of herbaceous and subshrub species of savanna and grassland ecosystems, and a crucial factor to be maintained for conservation of these ecosystems and their biodiversity. Natural fires in the Cerrado are common, as grasslands and savannas have evolved under fire pressure (Fidelis et al., 2018; Alho et al., 2019). Natural fires usually occur in the wet season or in the seasonal transition months and with a frequency of three to eight years (Fidelis et al., 2018). The suppression of fire has transformed savanna vegetation into forests, causing biodiversity losses and drastic changes in ecological processes, and current policies restricting fire management to protected areas under complex regulations do not help in re‐establishing an adequate fire regime for maintaining this diverse mosaic of vegetation types (Durigan and Ratter, 2015). ▶ Crops, Livestock Farming / Grazing High Threat (Cattle grazing and crop cultivation ) Inside site, localised(<5%) Outside site Ranching and agriculture are major threats to the Cerrado ecoregion and rapid land use changes have been observed in the last decades. About half of the tropical savanna of Cerrado has been converted to croplands, pastures, and planted forests for agribusiness, causing extreme fragmentation and habitat degradation and loss (Ferreguetti et al., 2019; Latrubesse et al., 2019; Colli, Vieira and Dianese, 2020). Both Chapada dos Veadeiros (CdVNP) and Emas National Parks (ENP) are almost entirely surrounded by agricultural and livestock areas (Santos et al., 2018; Borges and Silva, 2019; Finnegan et al., 2019), having effects on key habitats, species and biodiversity of the aquatic, semi-aquatic, and terrestrial fauna, as well as water quality and availability (Santos et al., 2018; Colli, Vieira and Dianese, 2020). There is even livestock within the CdVNP, as permitted use, since it was an activity prior to the creation of the conservation unit (ICMBio, 2020a). Due to the rapid expansion of agriculture and livestock, as well as intensive local forest harvesting, ca. 137 animal species of the Cerrado are endangered (IUCN 2013 in Colli, Vieira and Dianese, 2020). It also negatively affects the availability of water in hydrological basins of extreme importance to Brazil, since irrigation needed for agricultural activities in the Cerrado put strong pressure on water resources. Also, chemical pollution from pesticides is a major concern