Protecting the sources of the Pantanal

The springs of the Paraguay River are located just below the watershed between the Amazon and Paraguay river basins in the State of Mato Grosso. The area is classified by the Brazilian Environment Ministry as “area of extreme importance for biodiversity conservation”. The springs are of paramount importance to the functioning of the adjacent ecosystem of the Pantanal and, beyond, to the basin of the Paraguay River and Lower Paraná River, including the Guarani Aquifer. They are also part of the transition area between the Cerrado and the Pantanal. Main problems in the area are fragmentation of habitats and deforestation, and poverty and social disintegration of local communities. In addition, environmental laws, such as the obligation that land owners have to leave 35% of their land private protected areas unused for conservation purposes, are not respected. The area is subject to rapid degradation as soils have a sandy structure and deforestation is followed by very high rates of erosion and downstream sedimentation, which in turn threatens to modify the hydrological regime of large downstream areas. In the past, underlying causes were mainly the expansion of cattle-raising and gold mining (“garimpo”). More recently, these problems are caused by new settlements and the unplanned extension of soy and sugar cane that results from the lack of land-use planning. The various economic activities have failed to provide sufficient income to households and settlers and poverty is on the increase. Owing to a lack of sustainable alternatives (related to a lack of capacities), this leads in turn to an aggravation of the process of fragmentation and degradation endangering both biodiversity and livelihoods. The project will address these problems by promoting restoration of degraded priority areas for protection and the development of agro-forestry systems as a sustainable alternative for local communities. The project will to generate information on the scale and dynamics of deforestation in the area, and identify priority areas for conservation and for the establishment of ecological corridors. Through participation of the NGO to the State fund for the forest, the project will identify opportunities for restoration of degraded areas and support possible proponents to develop proposals and submit them to the fund. At the same time, the project will develop three demonstration sites for the reforestation of degraded spring and gallery forest areas with native species (20ha), using agro-forestry systems supporting both biodivertsity conservation and sustainable income generation for local households. Expected results are a better understanding of the fragmentation process, identified priorities for conservation and the establishment of ecological corridors, demonstration sites where restoration of degraded lands and sustainable alternatives to small-scale agriculture is in progress, and increased interest by authorities and communities for the restoration of priority areas in the region.