WWF's work in Brazil

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A 15m high inflatable bucket with water running from a tab, which WWF-Brazil's Freshwater team managed to place in front of the world famous "Christ the Redeemer" statue high above Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on World Environment Day, 5 June 2005.
© WWF-Canon / WWF-Brazil/Adriana Lorete

WWF-Brazil

WWF-Brazil has become an increasingly active organisation, not just through the size and quality of its staff, but also through the diversification of its programmes and projects, the dedication and performance of its staff, the high level of participation of its Board and the decisive collaboration of its associates and partners.
WWF-Brazil is an autonomous, non-profit Brazilian civil society organisation. Created in 1996 and based in Brasília, the federal capital of the country, WWF-Brazil acts nationwide with the mission of contributing to a Brazilian society that conserves its natural environment, harmonizing human activity with the preservation of biodiversity and the sustainable use of natural resources, to the benefit of the citizens of today and of future generations.

WWF-Brazil has regional offices in:
  • Rio Branco (Acre)
  • Alto Paraíso (Goiás)
  • Corumbá and Campo Grande (Mato Grosso do Sul)
  • São Paulo and Macapá (Amapá). 
It acts on a national level and most of its programmes and projects are executed in partnership with other non-governmental organisations, governmental organs and companies.

The Amazon, Cerrado scrubland, Atlantic Forest and Pantanal wetland are the main biomes in which WWF works. A highly qualified and multidisciplinary technical team conducts projects in conservation and the sustainable use of natural resources in high priority ecoregions.

Our mission

WWF-Brazil’s mission is to contribute to a Brazilian society that conserves its natural environment, harmonizing human activity with the preservation of biodiversity and the sustainable use of natural resources, to the benefit of the citizens of today and of future generations.

- Visit our homepage in Portuguese
Reducing the environmental impacts of agriculture
Brazil is the second largest soy producer in the world, after the United States.This massive industry is happening at the expense of Brazil’s forests and savannas. Hence, social and environmental strategies need to be part of the business plan.

In 2003, WWF’s Forest Conversion Initiative (now WWF Forest Conversion Programme) began addressing the severe environmental impacts of soy plantations in Brazil, with a focus on 3 key ecoregions - the Amazon, the Atlantic Forest and the Cerrado (Brazilian savannas). WWF is doing this by documenting these impacts in case studies done in the 3 ecoregions.

As part of this effort, WWF’s Trade and Environment programme has focused on the expansion of soy plantations in the Cerrado region. This involves trying to influence the World Trade Organisation (WTO), and international trade and investment flows more generally.

At the local level...
WWF is also working with small farmers to identify how the negative environmental impacts of soy production can be reduced. Simultaneously, market links with European buyers are being established for soy produced in a way that does not harm the environment.
Globally...
At the global level, WWF, companies, NGOs, and banks have initiated the international Round Table on Responsible Soy,  to jointly develop solutions for responsible soy production. The objective is to promote economically viable, socially equitable and environmentally responsible production and use of soy.
/ ©: WWF
What are the problems?
© WWF
/ ©: WWF-Canon / Mark EDWARDS
Cattle ranching and forest burning near the Rio Branco River in the Amazon. Brazil
© WWF-Canon / Mark EDWARDS

Find out more

Putting the soy explosion on hold

/ ©: WWF-Canon / Michel GUNTHER
Soybeans Glycine soja Paraná, Brazil. Soya or Soy beans (Glycine soja) plantation, Paraná, Brazil
© WWF-Canon / Michel GUNTHER
Soy cultivations in Brazil are tearing through natural habitat such as the Cerrado and the Amazon. Along with partners, we succeeded in opening talks with the soy industry to reduce their impact on the Amazon.
In 2006, following pressure by WWF and other NGOs, several soy companies announced a two-year moratorium on the commercialisation of soy produced on newly deforested land in the Amazon.

Moreover, they committed to work with the soy industry, NGOs and the government to reach the moratorium objectives. The moratorium signals the recognition of the environmental and social impacts that soy expansion causes in the Amazon, and the need for adequate solutions to protect this important biome.

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Photos and graphics © WWF or used with permission. Text available under a Creative Commons licence.