Decision 25 COM X.A

Cerrado Protected Areas: Chapada dos Veadeiros and Emas National Parks (Brazil)

Property: Cerrado Protected Areas: Chapada dos Veadeiros and Emas National Parks

Id. N°: 1035

State Party: Brazil

Criteria: N (ii) (iv)

The Committee inscribed the Cerrado Protected Areas: Chapada dos Veadeiros and Emas National Parks on the World Heritage List on the basis of criterion (ii) and (iv):

Criterion (ii): The site has played a key role for millenia in maintaining the biodiversity of the Cerrado Ecoregion. Due it its central location and altidudinal variation, it has acted as a relatively stable species refuge when climate change has caused the Cerrado to move north-south or east-west. This role as a species refuge is ongoing as Earth enters another period of climate change.

Criterion (iv): The site contains samples of all key habitats that characterise the Cerrado ecoregion - one of Earth's oldest tropical ecosystems. It contains over 60% of all floral species and almost 80% of all vertebrate species described for the Cerrado. With the exception of the Giant Otter, all of the Cerrado's endangered large mammals occur in the site. In addition, the site supports many rare small mammals and bird species that do not occur elsewhere in the Cerrado and a number of species new to science have been discovered in the Cerrado Protected Areas.

The site comprises two parts: