Pantanal Wetlands Under Threat

By AFOP, February 3rd 2012

The Pantanal in South America is the world’s largest wetland spanning through Brazil’s Matto Grosso do Sul region and extending to parts of Bolivia and Paraguay. During the rainy season, 80% of the Pantanal floodplains are submerged, offering the chance for aquatic plant and animal species, and many others to thrive. The wetlands are extremely important for both people and animals and are home to nearly 5,000 plant and animal species and 8 million people according to WWF.

In a new report released on World Wetlands Day by WWF-Brazil, which examines the ecological threats in the Paraguay River Basin of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil and Paraguay, environmental degradation including that caused by cattle ranching is threatening areas of the Pantanal, particularly the highland and plateau areas. The Ecological Risk Index (ERI) devised by Mattson & Angermeier (2007), featured in the WWF report, lists the main threats to the region as hydroelectric plants, the creation of roads and waterways, mining, gas pipelines, dams, agriculture and urbanisation.

Only 11% of the Pantanal region is currently protected with some environmental laws, making the vast majority of the wetland vulnerable to human activity, particularly driven by the economic boom in the area which has led to an expansion of settlements, road building and port building. Currently 75% of the basin is covered by vegetation but in Brazil’s Cerrado region 54% of land has been deforested and in the Atlantic forest, 48% of forest cover has been lost.

WWF- Pantanal: protecting the world's largest wetlands

(CC) Image by Leyo