Returning to the Pantanal
by Vania da Silva Nunes

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After living in the northern hemisphere for a couple of years, I returned to my native country, Brazil.

I always enjoyed those returns when one can see its own country with foreigner eyes. My desire to visit tropical nature sites was on top of my priorities. To start, since I was living in the industrial Sao Paulo City, I made short visits to the Atlantic rainforest, the ecosystem which inspired me to become a biologist, and of course swan on the Atlantic ocean. As soon I had an opportunity to take a vacation, my destination was clear on my mind, Bonito and the Pantanal in Mato Grosso do Sul State. These destinations were in almost any Brazilian adventure travel magazine and of course, the pictures were really attractive.

Despite the pictures, many years ago, I had briefly visited the Pantanal, by train, when ecotourism was not so popular in Brazil. I always kept on my mind the unforgetable sceneries of what seemed , millions of caimans sun bathing by the lagoons and millions of white birds roosting on leafless trees. Once in a while, I also saw lonely deers fleeing away from the train track as the train passed. I taught to myself "despite the train noise, we still can see all of this wildlife". It was clear to me in those days that the region had an incredible fauna abundance. Nowdays, that train still exists, but unfortunately passengers are not allowed on them any longer. What a loss for ecotourism!!!!

What did I find in the region after 20 years? First, Bonito is famous for its clear waters and many underground caves due to its calcareous formation. I was surprised on how well organized the town is for ecotourism activities, according to Brazilian standards. Most of the field trips are made on private properties, so you just go inside of it with a trained Bonito field guide. During one's visit to the site the guide will not only provide useful information about the region, but also let you know how to behave while visiting the site to maximize the site's preservation. It is clear that the local people are benefiting from ecotourism through an active participation on it, but I also hear that, because of tourists, everything now is more expensive in Bonito and locals also have to pay these high prices. Another problem is that the town is growing very fast and there is no sewage treatment there, thus this will eventually affect Bonito's crystal clear waters.

After a brief visit to Bonito, I drove up north through a dirt road (70 Km) and arrived in Miranda, a town on the border of South Pantanal. There I was also surprised how locals and farmers are participating actively into ecotourism activities. I visited the nearby Sao Francisco farm, where I spent the morning doing a photographic safari on the rice fields and the afternoon fishing piranha to feed caimans on the river. I also drove on the Miranda surroundings, where there are several native indian tribes, and bought beautiful potteries. Continuing the trip, I went west on highway BR-262 crossing the southern portion of the Pantanal and arrived in Corumba, a town located on the margin of the Paraguay River and on the border with Bolivia. This town was founded in 1778 and, played in those days, an important role as a commerce center by receiving vapor boats from all over the world.

In Corumba, I hired a local guide for a photographic safari trip through the "Estrada Parque do Pantanal da Nhecolandia", a dirt road which was opened by Marshal Rondon, at the end of the last century, to bring a telegraphic cable to the extreme Brazilian western region. This road today is a Special Conservation Unit of Tourism Interest that has 120 Km, with 6 interpretative observation points and 87 wood bridges where one can easily stop and observe wildlife. I really enjoyed driving along this road and stopping once in a while at the observation points to take pictures and learn more about the Pantanal.

What did I learn about the Pantanal? The Pantanal also known as the Xaraies Sea, is a sedimentary floodplain and the largest wetland ecosystem in central South America. Geologically speaking the region is new and unstable. It is believed that, in past geological eras, there was a sea where the Pantanal is today. The theory says that with the Andean mountains uplift, the Amazonian and Parana valleys also went up and the sea water leaked out. This theory at least tries to explain why, nowdays, there are salt water lagoons, marine shells and the spotted ray (Potamotrygon sp.), a fish related to marine organisms, inside the Pantanal.

The Paraguay River and its tributaries feed the Pantanal and forms a north-south gradient in degrees of inundation creating a range of major habitats. In total there are 12 different sub-regions ("Pocone", "Caceres", "Paraguai", "Barao de Melgaco", "Paiaguas", "Nhecolandia", "Taquari", "Abobral-Negro", "Aquidauana", "Miranda", "Nabileque", "Porto Murtinho"), mainly based on topographic relief, vegetation characteristics and degree of inundation. The flooding regime creates na ideal environment for a variety of fish and wildlife species to live and reproduce, making the Pantanal the breeding ground of a variety of waterfowl species and the refuge of many Brazilian endangered species.

The Pantanal once considered a pristine region, today is threatened by a variety of environmental impacts (i.e., mining, agriculture, etc) most of them originating on the upper land surrounding the Pantanal. Thus, the Brazilian society has as challenge ahead: the conservation of the Pantanal Wetlands.

The author, based in Corumba (MS, Brazil), is a Ph.D. biologist currently working for CPAP/EMBRAPA (Pantanal Center for Agricultural Research/Brazilian Agency for Agricultural Research).

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