novembro, 11 2015

The landscape of the Pantanal is a mosaic of ecosystems with an abundance of water. It is one of the largest perennial flood plains on the Planet and one of Brazil's richest biomes. The Pantanal harbours 656 species of birds, 325 species of fish, 159 mammals, 98 reptiles, 53 amphibians and over 3,500 species of plants. In all, there are over 4,700 species of flora and fauna in the region, including two endemic species and various threatened species, such as the Giant Anteater, Maned Wolf and Hyacinth Macaw. Despite its great ecological importance, the average Brazilian knows very little about the Pantanal.

To celebrate Pantanal Day (12 November), WWF-Brasil created some infographics to showcase the biome and emphasise its importance for Brazil and the rest of the world, and highlight the threats to the region and ways of protecting it.

The Pantanal is one of Brazil's most exuberant and untouched biomes: 85% of its native vegetation cover remains intact. The main threats to the conservation of the region are the expansion of soybean, sugarcane and eucalyptus monocultures, soil erosion, extensive cattle ranching on planted pastures and large-scale infrastructure projects such as dams and waterways.

It is no coincidence that the Pantanal was designated a World Heritage Site and Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO. These areas are instruments for sustainable development and remain under the jurisdiction of the states where they are located.

The Pantanal spans an area of 170.500 km². Approximately 62% of this area lies in Brazil, 20% in Bolivia, and 18% in Paraguay. In Brazil, the biome stretches across the States of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul, occupying an area equivalent to the combined size of Belgium, Switzerland, Portugal and Holland.

The Pantanal’s water cycle

The Pantanal floodplain, which stretches into Bolivia and Paraguay, is bordered by a number of plateaus at an altitude of up to 1,000 metres above sea level. The lowland area, which is between 80 and 150 metres above sea level, is crisscrossed by rivers that originate in the Upper Paraguay River Basin, whose vegetation is predominantly Cerrado, meaning that any impact on the Cerrado dramatically affects the Pantanal.

The gradient of the floodplain is so gradual that it retains the rainfall and waters that flow slowly from the headwaters along the Pantanal’s many rivers. Every day, an amazing 180 million litres of water pour into these rivers, which include the River Cuiabá, River São Lourenço, River Aquidauana and River Paraguay.

In the rainy season, torrential rains cause rising water levels and the rivers overflow flooding 80% of the region and turning it into a stunning sheet of water with isolated pieces of land covered with vegetation protruding above the water surface like islands, where animals seek refuge from the rising waters.

Threats facing the Pantanal

Despite its importance, the Pantanal faces a number of threats that are common to the three countries where it is located. Currently, only 3.19% of the biome is covered by protected areas, a mere 2.88% of which are strictly protected areas, putting the biome at even greater risk.

These threats are the theme of a study undertaken by WWF-Brasil that monitored land cover and land use changes in the Upper Paraguay River Basin, which showed that the region has already lost approximately 50% of its original cover.

The study also shows that around 85% of the native vegetation of Pantanal floodplain and 39% of the uplands remains intact. The dominant land use in the region continues to be cattle ranching; however, this activity is losing ground to arable land, which is expanding over areas historically used as pasture. The area of land planted with eucalyptus between 2012 and 2014 was 61 km², including areas that were formerly used as cropland and as pasture.

Not to mention the landscape of the Pantanal, which is under constant threat from large scale infrastructure projects such as the Paraná-Paraguay waterway, whose realisation has been the goal of the countries of the Río de la Plata Basin since the 1990s and will require major engineering works and dredging along a 3,500 km stretch of river between Cáceres in Brazil and Palmira in Uruguay.

WWF-Brasil, WWF-Bolivia and WWF-Paraguay share an integrated vision for the conservation of the Pantanal and the mitigation of environmental impacts across the entire biome, including both the uplands and the floodplain.

According to Julio César Sampaio, coordinator of WWF-Brasil’s Cerrado Pantanal Programme, “our work involves the conservation and protection of aquatic ecosystems, development of sustainable value chains, implementation of systematic land use planning, and promotion of responsible consumption habits”.

Sampaio explains that the work includes assessing the environmental impacts of land use, calculating ecological footprints, monitoring vegetation cover and supporting the management of protected areas: “we also help to conserve springs and recuperate degraded areas and encourage sustainable production by promoting the adoption of best practices for sustainable beef production”.

The Pantanal Headwaters Defence Pact

The Pantanal Headwaters Defence Pact is an alliance that secures the commitment of civil society, the private sector (water users) and public sector to promote the sustainable development in 25 municipalities in the State of Mato Grosso through the joint management of activities designed to recuperate and conserve the headwaters of the Rivers Jaurú, Sepotuba, Cabaçal and Paraguay, which together account for 30% of the waters of the Pantanal. The goal is to recuperate over 700 km of rivers, 70 springs and 23,000 hectares of gallery forest by planting more than 11 million saplings, which in turn will generate over 1,000 jobs.

The Pact has already borne fruit, such as improvements in the quality of life of farmers benefitted by the installation of 40 eco-friendly septic tanks that, apart from preventing human waste from reaching the rivers, produce biofertilizer. Another success story is the selection of the municipalities of Mirassol D’Oeste and Tangará da Serra by the National Water Agency (ANA) to receive funding from the Water Producer Programme to implement Payment for Environmental Services (PSA) projects whereby farmers will receive payments for protecting springs and local water resources, conserving gallery forests and adopting good agricultural and soil management practices.

Each member of the Pact makes a voluntary commitment to implement at least three actions designed to recuperate, preserve and conserve the region’s rivers and springs. These actions include the recuperation of degraded areas, environmental regularisation of rural roads by 2020, sanitation improvements, the installation of septic tanks in rural areas, and improvements in solid waste and water resources management.