Conservation of the Cerrado from the valorization of socio-biodiversity products: the importance of production chains and local marketing channels

The Cerrado occupies an area of about 20 million km2 (approximately 20% of the Brazilian territory), being the second largest national biome and the richest savanna in biodiversity of the planet. Although it covers three regions of the country (Northeast, Midwest and Southeast) and housing a significant number of traditional communities and family farmers, is the biome with the lowest percentage of protected areas and therefore one of the most threatened. Strategies for the promotion of non-timber forest products (NTFP) for the conservation of the biome and promotion of sustainable development, with job creation and poverty reduction have been implemented. There are several cases in different states, of products with local supply and demand, but, in the meantime, there are fewer cases of large-scale impacts, reaching in more distant markets. Based on field research carried out in the last five years, we present a comparison of cases of promotion of NTFP chains in different regions of the Cerrado, where we highlight experiences and products of greater demand and occurrence, with the cases of Baru (Dipteryx alata), pequi (Caryocar brasiliense) and babassu (Attalea speciosa), which, based on different strategies of market insertion of agro-extractive organizations, promoted important changes in terms of income generation with local communities and conservation of the biome. Other products, such as buriti (Mauritia flexuosa), macaúba (Acrocomia aculeata) and other species of lesser occurrence, although less demanded, contribute to the maintenance of the diversity of forest species and the generation of complementary income to the communities.