Day 3: Rondonópolis
Goodbye for now, Cuiabá! Time to go into the Cerrado. Today we hit the road for our first field trip - we’ll be here for another day and a half before heading back to Cuiabá. The drive was about three hours, and was my first opportunity to see the native Cerrado biome as well as the places where land conversion is happening. I say “conversion” and not “deforestation” because bad actors have exploited the differences in these terms - the Cerrado is a grassland biome, not a forest, and therefore companies have been able to get around deforestation pledges by claiming they are not actually “deforesting” any land. Thus, the term d’art “conversion” is born.
The Cerrado is beautiful and wild. I think this is my first time in a tropical grassland, so I didn’t know what to expect. Lots of tall, dry grass and underbrush, dotted with those craggy trees you see in savannah ecosystems, some of which had brightly-colored flowers at the top. There were lots of different types of palms mixed in as well, though I think some must be oil palms for palm oil production. The soil must be very rich in iron because it is a bright copper color. Even from the air conditioned bus, you can TELL that it’s sweltering out there - the earth looks baked, and yet the trees seem quite happy with it! According to my weather app, the temperature hit 107 F today. Yikes.
You can also tell instantly when you reach converted land. All the different colors and textures that characterize the native vegetation vanish. Instead of the yellow grass and green trees and red soil, you have hectares upon hectares of flat brown or green land. Right now soy is being planted and corn has already been harvested, so many of the fields just look empty. Quite a big change from the abundance of vegetation characterized by the Cerrado. We also passed several cattle farms, which do at least keep a few trees here and there compared to the agriculture sites but are no less homogenous to the eye.
Seeing all of this really helped me see that the fields are where all of our policies and plans live or die. We can try whatever tactics we want at the global or national level and applaud ourselves for moving the needle in the right direction, but all of that is for naught farmer makes the decision to convert land for whatever reason. Ultimately, the farmer is the person who needs to make the right choice. We can try our best to manipulate his circumstances such that the choice is easier to make, but it is still up to him. I am really looking forward to meeting some farmers later this week so I can better understand their point of view and psychology — keeping in mind that it differs dramatically across regions, commodities, and individuals of course.
During the journey I also spied a few cool-looking birds thanks to my keen-eyed coworker. Of not was the flightless rhea - basically a small ostrich - and two absolutely massive blue and yellow macaws. I saw a few other interesting-looking silhouettes on the ride but nobody I could identify right away. I’m kicking myself for forgetting my binoculars, just like I knew I would. I never think of them until I see a cool bird flying overhead and realize that I’m not prepared. Oh well — my bird list will suffer for it. I’ve downloaded the South America bird guide on the Merlin app just in case but without binoculars I’m pretty doubtful I’ll be able to see much.
Tonight we are staying in Rondonópolis, which is much smaller and more rural than Cuiabá. Tomorrow, we will be visiting a research station in the field that is testing out different soil management methods for growing soy. This is part of TNC’s Reverte project, which is designed to promote the recovery of degraded pastureland in the Cerrado and increase the productivity of that land to open up these areas for cultivation, thus eliminiating the need for native habitat conversion. We talk about soil management quite a lot as a regenerative agriculture solution, but I don’t really know what that looks like in practice, so I’m excited to learn more about the science behind it. Our guide will be speaking Portuguese so I am hoping I can keep up! Then in the afternoon we will be meeting with representatives from one of our confidential partners to learn more about their sustainability plans. I have been really involved in that project at a global level, so it will be interesting to see how it’s discussed on the ground in the Brazilian context.
I’m going to take it easy in the hotel, finishing up a bit of work and hopefully reading my book as well. We’ll only be in the field for a couple of hours but it’s a bright and early start in a very hot climate, so I want to be well rested!
