REUTERS/Amanda PerobelliSAO PAULO/MONTREAL, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Deforestation in Brazil's Cerrado savanna rose to a seven-year high, government data showed on Wednesday, destroying a vital habitat for threatened species and releasing huge amounts of greenhouse gases that drive climate change. Destruction of native vegetation rose 25% to 10,689 square kilometers (4,127 square miles) – an area larger than Lebanon. Brazil's official deforestation statistics run from August to July to minimize clouds obscuring the destruction. The Cerrado, the world's most species-rich savanna, has given way to Brazil's expanding agricultural frontier for decades. "We need COP15 negotiators to prioritise ending deforestation and conversion in areas where the yearly rate of ecosystem losses prove alarming, like the Cerrado."

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