Safeguarding the Pantanal wetlands: Threats and conservation initiatives

The Pantanal, one of the largest wetlands on the planet, comprises 140, 000 km(2) of lowland flood-plain of the upper Rio Paraguai basin that drains the Cerrado of central Brazil. The diverse mosaics of habitats resulting from the varied soil types and inundation regimes are responsible for an extraordinarily rich terrestrial and aquatic biota, exemplified by the bird richest wetland in the world-463 birds have been recorded there-and the largest known populations of several threatened mammals, such as Pampas deer (Ozotoceros bezoarticus), marsh deer (Blastocerus dichotomus), giant otter (Pteronura brusiliensis), and jaguar (Panthera onca). Until recently, deforestation of the adjoining Brazilian central plateau was considered the major threat to this area, but now deforestation is a critical problem within the floodplain itself More than 40% of the forest and savanna habitats have been altered for cattle ranching through the introduction of exotic grasses. And there are other threats that lead to large-scale disruption of ecological processes, severely affecting biodiversity. Although the Pantanal wetland is a Biosphere Reserve and is considered a Wetland of International Importance, only 25% of the upper Paraguai River basin is formally protected. To date, protected areas have been created opportunistically and as such, although of undoubted value, protect only a fraction of the Pantanal's wildlife and habitats. Among the conservation initiatives in the area, the private sector is increasingly participating in the establishment of private reserves. The prospects are far from optimistic, however, and the major challenge is to find alternative socioeconomic models that allow for conservation and economic uses of the land in association with the development of specific environmental legislation that reflects the unique characteristics of the region.