Fostering water resource governance and conservation in the Brazilian Cerrado biome

Abstract

The Brazilian Cerrado, one of the most threatened biomes of our planet, illustratesthe challenges and opportunities of reconciling economic development with conser-vation of land and water ecosystems. Here, we assess the state of the art of and pre-sent new information on the impacts of agricultural expansion, dams, and wateruse, and make recommendations for basin management, conservation, and restora-tion of water-related Cerrado ecosystems and rivers. The conservation of theCerrado requires not only the preservation of remnants of its vegetation but also theability to keep the hydro-geomorphological and ecological functionality of its riv-ers, particularly the Araguaia River, the last large well preserved and unregulatedsystem. If business as usual continues, the Cerrado riverine ecosystems may never rebound.