The Brazilian Pantanal, Ecological Sanctuary
10/25/97
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Headline: The Brazilian Pantanal, Ecological Sanctuary
Source: Environmental News, ENVIRO@salata.com
Date: 10/25/97
Author: Ant#nio Jorge Melo Viana
Brazilian Green Party
The Brazilian Pantanal
An ecosystem of unmatched exuberance, whose biodiversity is governed by
alternating periods of flood and drought - a land among whose flora and
fauna are mixed species of the savanna and of the Amazon - the largest
flood plain in the world, 140 thousand acres in all - this is the Pantanal,
the marshland of Mato Grosso, an ecological sanctuary in the heart of
Brazil.
Inhabited by settlers for 200 years, this marshy region's principle
economic use is now large-scale cattle ranching. But the threat to this
environmental paradise has been brought on by other forms of exploitation -
on the tablelands the savanna has been overtaken by soy plantations and
mining operations. With the destruction of the natural fibrous root
systems, agrotoxins and mercury add to the siltation of the swampy rivers,
jeopardizing the ecosystem and provoking real ecological disasters.
The hunting of alligators has diminished significantly since the early
90's. Stronger action by the forest rangers of the states of Mato Grosso do
Sul and Mato Grosso and by officials of IBAMA, in addition to the
restrictions in the world market of the kinds of hides taken from the
Pantanal, have succeeded in inhibiting the misdeeds of the largest
poachers. Estimates from the decade of the 80's indicate one million
animals killed annually. Unregulated tourism is also interfering with the
balance of the ecosystem in the Pantanal and is the cause of pollution and
devastation.