The Center for Ecosystem Survival in partnership with The Nature Conservancy has helped to protect and assist in the preservation of 130,000 acres bordering the 333,000-acre Pantanal National Park. UNESCO now recognizes this entire area as a World Heritage Site.
More about the Pantanal.
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Center for Ecosystem Survival |
The 81,510 acre Doroche Ranch and the 66,690 acre Acurizal Ranch have been identified by scientists as high priority acquisitions. Both properties border the 338, 000 acre Pantanal National park, which for years has been the only protected area in the southern lowland region of the Pantanal. These two acquisitions provide an additional 148,000 acres to the park, and expand the amount of protected area in the Pantanal by more than 43 percent.
More than 650 species of birds have been identified in the Pantanal, as many as the United States and Canada combined. The Pantanal is home to large populations of jaguars, capybaras, march deer, giant anteaters, tapirs, and hyacinth macaws. Its lakes and rivers are inundated with vast numbers of giant otters, caiman, and a diverse group of fish species numbering at least 260.
Brazil’s Pantanal is the principal component of one of the world’s largest freshwater wetlands systems. Located on the country’s western side near Bolivia and Paraguay, Brazil’s Pantanal is an immense alluvial plain, spanning 140,000 square kilometers throughout the states of Mato Grasso and Mato Grosso do Sul. Its landscape encompasses a variety of ecological sub-regions, including river corridors, gallery forests, perennial wetlands and lakes, seasonally inundated grasslands, and terrestrial forests. Together, these natural tracts from one of the greatest and most biologically diverse ecosystems on the planet.
Threats
There is evidence that the Pantanal is threatened by a number of various activities, almost all of which emanate from human-related activity. These include agricultural development, mining, urban waste, cattle production, and artificial, drainage projects. Furthermore, more than 95 percent of the park is flooded during the lengthy rainy season. The high waters force mammalian species living there to migrate into unprotected areas outside the park’s boundaries, where survival is difficult.
Protection Plan
Several protection strategies have been identified for preserving the ecological integrity of the region. Specifically, these strategies include expanding the amount of core protected natural area in the region, developing a community based conservation and development plan for the Cuiabá River Basin, the Pantanal’s main source of water, and creating a database of ecological information to help to facilitate a science based decision making process for regional land use issues. In 1991, a Rapid Ecological Assessment was completed by The Nature Conservancy’s Latin American Science Program, which confirmed the need to extend protection beyond the park. Ecotropica will establish and work closely with a Pantanal advisory group to manage and maintain the newly acquired acres as a protected landscape.
Partners
The Ecotrópica Foundation is a Brazilian non-governmental conservation organization dedicated to leading protection efforts in the country’s Pantanal region. Since its inception, Ecotrópica has steadily developed into one of the premier conservation organizations not only in the Pantanal, but in all of Brazil. Founded in 1989, Ecotrópica’s mission is to contribute to the conservation and preservation of natural resources and to maintain the quality of life in the Pantanal. Ecotrópica seeks to improve the relationship between people and the environment that they inhabit, and to defend the region’s natural environment.
