How a sector-wide pact is protecting the world's largest wetland, Brazil's Pantanal

From WWF via The Guardian: The flooding cycle of the Pantanal is delicate and, if mismanaged, there could be detrimental effects to the wetland. Under the Pantanal Pact, 22 organisations and 25 mayors have come together to restore interconnected water resources.  Although the southeast of Brazil has recently recovered from its worst drought in 80 years, the central west of the country seemingly has an abundance of water. It is home to the world’s largest wetland – the Pantanal. Many people will never have heard of this area of wetland equivalent to the size of Holland, Belgium, Portugal and Switzerland combined.

The Pantanal teems with life; nearly 5,000 species have been recorded there to date. It provides an essential sanctuary for migrating birds, vital nurseries for aquatic life and a refuge for endangered animals and plants. Threatened species such as the jaguar, giant river otter and hyacinth macaw thrive in the Pantanal. Despite being a wetland, it is also home to 1.2 million people and more than 8 million people benefit from the services it provides.

From their source until they reach the Pantanal, the rivers flow through pockets of urbanisation dotted among huge agricultural and cattle ranching landscapes – Mato Grosso is one of the major farming states in Brazil. Farming is often linked to deforestation, which invariably leads to erosion, with sediment and pesticides running into rivers. Sanitation is also an issue since most sewage is untreated and ends up in the rivers. Further upstream many small dams can shift natural river flow patterns and changes in climate exacerbate all of these problems.

WWF have been working on the Pantanal Pact for almost five years, supported by funding from the HSBC Water Programme. The pact, an initiative to bring together all sectors of society to protect the rivers and springs, began as a small, hands-on spring restoration project that demonstrated the value of collaboration. But collaboration isn’t always easy, least of all when you are trying to engage a region with no conservation culture and a focus on development – agribusiness rules. Three main sectors of society were crucial to involve: governments, businesses and local communities. Typically in Brazil they do not talk to each other.