Conserving the World’s Largest Working Wetscape—Developing tools for sustainability and biodiversity conservation in the Pantanal

The Pantanal is world’s largest “working wetscape” (179,300km²), representing a complex mosaic of seasonally flooded habitats. It is highly biodiverse, providing strongholds for many threatened species (e.g., jaguar, giant otter, hyacinth macaw). Most is privately owned (93%) and used for cattle ranching. Although serious threats are manifold (e.g., intensification of ranching), the Pantanal represents a rare opportunity for large-scale conservation before the ecosystem is compromised. 

We propose innovative strategies for integrating private land management with conservation and socio-economic sustainability approaches, specifically Fazenda Pantaneira Sustentável (FPS), a tool developed to promote sustainable cattle ranching. Our overall objective is to test, adapt and promote tools and strategies that will increase socio-economic sustainability and biodiversity conservation in the Pantanal wetscape.

Objective 1. We propose to evaluate different biological thresholds in different farms to understand the benefits of FPS. Objective 2.  Assess ranchers’ willingness to implement existing government policies for sustainable land use of the land in the Pantanal and to adopt FPS through social science surveys. 
The results from our project will significantly advance scientific knowledge on how cattle ranching practices affect species distribution and ultimately Pantanal biodiversity.