Project Overview
Brazil has emerged as a top global agricultural commodity producer over the past 40 years. Most of this growth is reflected in the expansive tropical savanna landscape characterizing the Cerrado biome, where an estimated 50 million head of cattle graze. The Cerrado alone is responsible for roughly 55 percent of Brazil’s beef cattle production (over 26 million hectares of pasture) and 54 percent of its soybean output (over 18 million hectares of cultivated land). Not only is Brazil the world’s largest beef exporter, providing close to 20 percent of total global beef exports, it is also the largest soybean exporter, providing 83 million metric tons in 2018. Unfortunately, the environmental cost has been high, leading to land degradation and a significant loss of native vegetation. In this context, Brazil's main development challenge is to find the best way to sustainably manage its natural and productive landscapes by restoring degraded land, conserving the biodiversity and ecosystem services in the Cerrado biome.
Sites:
Cerrado biome with a particular focus on the following three watershed clusters (comprising nine “Productive Natural Landscape Nuclei”):
Araguaia-Taquari watershed located in the States of Goias, Mato Grosso, and Mato Grosso do Sul. This area covers 20 municipalities.
Tocantins and Paranaíba watersheds located in the States of Goias and Federal District. This area covers eight municipalities.
Tocantins, São Francisco and Paranaíba watersheds located in the States of Bahia and Minas Gerais. This area covers 32 municipalities.
Commodities:
Livestock and soybean
Area Covered:
1,950,800 hectares (direct intervention area). The project landscape of influence covers approximately 47.2 million hectares across nine “Productive Natural Landscape Nuclei” in Bahia, Minas Gerais, Goiás, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, and the Federal District.
GEF Implementing Agency:
World Bank
Executing Agency:
Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture - IIA
Government of Brazil:
Ministry of Environment and Climate Change - MMA, Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock – MAPA, Brazilian Forest Service - SFB
Project features
The name Vertentes (meaning watersheds/slopes) reflects the fact that the selected landscapes sit on the watersheds of the country’s major river basins and present significant biodiversity hotspots, including ecotones between the Cerrado and neighboring biomes (Pantanal, Caatinga, and Atlantic Forest), as well as numerous endemic, rare, and threatened species.
The project strategy is based on forming consortia that drive collective action for integrated land-use management, mobilizing public and private networks to promote collaborative, innovative solutions that prioritize anti-deforestation practices and environmental restoration.
Aerial view of the Amazon rainforest and river, Brazil. By Neil Palmer/CIAT
Activities include farmer training, recovery of degraded lands and pastures, technical assistance, protection of Permanent Preservation Areas (APPs), Legal Reserves (RLs), and Private Natural Heritage Reserves (RPPNs), as well as strengthening local governance, land-use planning, and access to rural credit and financing.
Thus, the goal is to increase the area under sustainable landscape management and restoration for beef cattle and soybean value chains:
- Activities will focus on the development of integrated landscape management systems, the promotion of sustainable food production practices and responsible commodity value chains.
- Restoration of natural habitats, program coordination, collaboration, and capacity building will be central to the project. Adoption of landholding protocol certification and development of traceability tools to improve value chain actors' land-use practices and restoration activities in major production landscapes.
Public sector engagement will include strengthening the legal protection of natural ecosystems on private lands and the alignment of existing policies and incentives to promote sustainable agriculture value chains and forest protection.
- A gender strategy will be designed to encourage equitable gender participation in the project's activities and create equal opportunities for both men and women as a result of the project's interventions.
The project supports Brazil’s international commitments under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
It also builds on existing national programs such as the Low-Carbon Agriculture Plan (Plano ABC) and environmental regularization tools such as the Rural Environmental Registry (CAR).
[Page updated May 2026]
