Pantanal PROGRAMME

PantanalPROGRAMME

Promoting sustainable development

Fotos: © WWF / Gustavo YBARRA

The Upper Paraguay River Basin

With its 600,00 km2 and expanding across Boliva, Brazil andParaguay, the Upper Paraguay River Basin, located in center-eastern South America, is one of the most important Basinsfor the continent and the world. In its southern portion itmeets the Paraná Basin, conforming one large wetlandsystem: the Paraguay-Paraná System, which sustains apopulation of more than 21 million people in five countries:Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay.

The Upper Paraguay River Basin, and thus the Paraguay-Paraná wetland system, is regulated by one of the largestflood plains in the world: the ‘Gran Pantanal’, extendingalong Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay with approximately 158,000km2.

In Bolivia, the Pantanal encompasses roughly 32,000 km2

and regulates floods and droughts, especially in the easternportion of the country, by uniformly retaining and distributingthe floods of the Paraguay River, acting as a sponge, andthis way also spreads the sediments and nutrients necessaryto maintain its high biodiversity. This hydric regulation turnsthe Pantanal into a highly productive ecoregion.

Pantanal, an internationallyimportant wetland

Ramsar Sites

Ramsar is the name of the Convention on Wetlands of InternationalImportance, especially as aquatic species habitats.

The Convention on Wetlands, signed in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971, is anintergovernmental treaty which provides the framework for national actionand international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlandsand their resources. There are presently 155 Contracting Parties to theConvention, with 1674 wetland sites, totaling 150 million hectares, designatedfor inclusion in the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance.

Wetlands are flooded surfaces covered by fresh, salty or salted, stagnantor flowing water. On the other hand, wetlands can be permanently floodedor only be covered by water during certain seasons.

© WWF / Gustavo YBARRA

The location of the Pantanal between the two largest Basinsin South America – Plata and Amazon – as well as its highproductive capacity make it a natural bio-geographicalcorridor and allows for the interaction of these twoecoregions. Thus, it is not surprising that the Pantanal hasa very rich diversity of fauna and flora typical ofthe Amazon,Chiquitano Forest, Chaco and Cerrado ecosystems.

Identified by WWF as one of the 200 priority ecoregions forworldwide conservation, the Pantanal is a critical habitat forseriously threatened species such as the Marsh deer(Blastocerus dichotomus ) , the Hyacinth macaw(Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus), the Giant river otter (Pteronurabrasiliensis) and others. At least 120 species of mammals,650 of birds, 90 of reptiles, 40 of amphibians, 260 of fish,1,030 of butterflies and 1,650 species of superior plantshave been registered so far.

The richness of this wetland and the diversity of its faunaprompted the Bolivian government, with support from WWF,to designate the entire Bolivian Pantanal as Ramsar Site,recognizing it as a wetland of international importance.

In 1997 the Prefecture of Santa Cruz, recognizing theenvironmental, social and economic values of the Pantanal,and enforcing the Land Use Plan (PLUS) for Santa Cruz,promoted the declaration of two national protected areas inthe Bolivian Pantanal:

- Otuquis National Park and Natural Integrated ManagementArea, in the southern portion of the Bolivian Pantanal

- San Matías Natural Integrated Management Area, in thenorthern portion of the Bolivian Pantanal.

Both declarations were greatly assisted by technical supportfrom the Noel Kempff Mercado Museum of Natural Historyand WWF. In 1997 both areas were officially declared viasupreme decrees as national protected areas: DS 24762 forOtuquis and DS 24734 for San Matías.

San Matías Protected Area

The Natural Integrated Management Area San Matías, referred to in Boliviaas ANMI San Matías, is the second largest protected area in Bolivia with2.9 million hectares, as well as one of the largest in South America. It islocated in the eastern part of the Department of Santa Cruz.

It protects key areas in the upper Basin of the Paraguay River, as well asin the Chiquitano Sunsá mountainous region, covered with Dry ChiquitanoForest, a high habitat in terms of its biodiversity, as well as encompassingan important portion of Pantanal’s flooded areas.

The ANMI management category indicates that, aside from its naturalattributes, there are also people and communities inhabiting within itsboundaries, which are allowed to use its natural resources in sustainableproductive activities, such as forest management, fishing, cattle ranchingand others.

Bolivian Ramsar Sites

National Park management category

Natural IntegratedManagement Area category

ANMI San Matías

ANMI Otuquis

PN Otuquis

PN Otuquis


The Pantanal has a high economic potential due to a seriesof factors:

- It is strategically located in terms of facilitating thetransportation of both goods and travelers in general to theneighboring country of Brazil.

- It is the projected site of the future construction of adevelopment hub

- Is has a high ecotourism potential- Presence of mining activities and extraction of other naturalresources

- Proximity with Brazil, Bolivia’s main business partner.

Because of this, there is a need to develop participatorymechanisms that create a balance between industrial andhuman development, as well as maintaining the quality ofthe wetland environment, which is the foundation for theregion’s economic development.

In Bolivia, the Upper Paraguay River Basin is made up ofnine municipalities: San Ignacio, San Rafael, San José,Roboré, San Matías, El Carmen Rivero Torres, Puerto Quijarro,Puerto Suárez and Charagua, and has an estimatedpopulation of 88,000 people.

Within the Upper Paraguay River Basin, the Bolivian Pantanalhas four municipalities: San Matías, El Carmen Rivero Torres,Puerto Suárez and Puerto Quijarro, with roughly 46,000inhabitants, mainly descendants of chiquitano and ayoreodeindigenous groups yet also consisting of immigrants fromother areas of Santa Cruz and Bolivia. The population in theBolivian Pantanal is dedicated primarily to commerce,industry, cattle ranching, transportation and small scaleagriculture.

The region’s local population

Sustainable development


© WWF / Frans SCHEPERS

Otuquis Protected Area

The Otuquis National Park and Natural Integrated Management Area islocated in the southeastern part of the Department of Santa Cruz. It hastwo management categories and aims to harmonize productive activitieswith the maintenance of the hydro-biological processes that occur in thisportion of the Pantanal, internationally acknowledged as “deep Pantanal”,since it is permanently flooded, more than six months out of the year.

A portion of Otuquis Protected Area’s territory is under Natural IntegratedManagement Area management category, where natural resources areused sustainably. The area of Otuquis that is under National Park managementcategory is uniquely rich in terms of its flora and fauna, and is under a strictand permanent protection. The only activities allowed are scientific research,ecotourism, environmental education and subsistence use by indigenouscommunities prior to obtaining a special permit. The use of natural resourcesand infrastructure development is not allowed within the National Park.

Pantanal, support for a growing economy

The ecosystem services provided by the Pantanal are essential for humanand economic activities. Some of these services are:

• Climate regulation: The Pantanal regulates temperature, precipitationand wind patterns, as well as other climate processes in the easternregion of Santa Cruz, and thus has an impact on agricultural and cattleranching production.

• Disturbance regulation: It controls floods, resilience and recuperatesthe ecosystems after the drought.

• Regulation of the hydrological cycle: Due to its capacity in regulatingthe flow of water, it mitigates extreme climate effects such as droughtsand extreme floods. It also contributes in providing continuity to hydrologicalprocesses since it is a water evaporating surface, forming clouds whichlater fall as rain not only in the Pantanal but also in other neighboringecosystems such as the Chiquitano Dry Forest.

• Water supply: The Pantanal captures, stores and regulates the flow ofwater.

• Controlling soil fertility loss: Because the Pantanal is a sedimentationplain, it naturally retains soil and incorporates nutrients through thisprocess and thus produces fertile soil.

• Water purification: It recovers and recycles mobile nutrients.

• Biological control: It eliminates and decomposes contaminants andtoxins from contaminated waters by removing nitrogen and phosphorous,as well as heavy metals.

• Climate change: The Pantanal provides at least two critical functionsregarding climate change mitigation: first, the process of capturingemissions of greenhouse gasses, and secondly, the physical bufferingacting as a shelter in terms of climate change impacts. The Pantanalgenerously contributes to the capture of carbon from the atmosphere andthe liberation of oxygen through photosynthesis.

• Biodiversity conservation: The Pantanal shelters an admirable richnessin terms of native cultures, flora and fauna.

• Economy: The Pantanal provides food, materials water, transportationand recreation. The consumption of its products is of great importancefor the survival of rural communities, their hunting and fishing activitiesfor self-consumption.la población local.



The wide range of human activities in the Upper ParaguayRiver Basin and Pantanal affects the maintenance of thehydro-biological processes including its productivity,biodiversity and the environmental services it provides tothe regions inhabitants.

As mentioned earlier, the economic potential of southeasternBolivia is well known and also includes the establishment,in the near future, of an iron and steel industry (through themining of Mutún) and a thermoelectric plant. This potential,although necessary for economic and social development,could easily have negative impacts on the environment ifsustainable development principles and criteria are notconsidered including mitigation strategies.

Even though the forest conversion rate in the Upper ParaguayRiver Basin for agriculture and cattle ranching purposes hasbeen low so far (around 2.3% Fuamu, 2006), this couldchange due to the lack of development planning.

Thus, development needs to occur hand in hand with landtenure clearing processes in order to avoid unplanned humansettlements and, of course, ensure necessary mitigationactions so that, for example, the road construction SantaCruz-Puerto Suárez, which will complete a bi-oceanic Pacific-Atlantic road corridor, truly does bring improvements for thelocal population, while at the same time mitigating activitiessuch as hunting, that in the long run will greatly deterioratethe quality of this wetland.

Anthropogenic activitiesand the Pantanal

© WWF / Frans SCHEPERS


© WWF / Viviane VON OVEN

Also, Bolivia has been providing coal, produced from timberextracted from the Chiquitano Dry Forest, to iron and steelindustry companies in Brazil. As headwaters for the Pantanal,the forest is strongly linked to both the flooding and fireregimes typical in grasslands.

Habitat conversion for agricultural and cattle ranchingpurposes or for coal production means that tons of sedimentsare generated, increasing the normal volume annually draggedby the Pantanal and accelerating sedimentation in lakes,lagoons and other bodies of water. This will contribute tothe disappearance of aquatic fauna, a major tourism attractionin the ecoregion due to its high diversity.

The introduction of exotic grasses for pasture lands, suchas Bracchiaria, has also been harmful to the Pantanal, sincethere is no pasture management system in the area, whichmeans that it is gaining ground over native species thuschanging the composition of the soil and the landscape ingeneral.

The ever increasing economic dynamic of exports producedand transported through the region has raised interest inadapting the Paraguay River to facilitate transportation andto this day continues to be one of the main hopes of thelocal population and exporters, yet also represents one ofthe main threats – not just for the Pantanal, but for the wholeUpper Paraguay and Paraná river basin systems.

On the other hand, hunting and predatory fishing activitiesare a permanent threat, promoted by some irresponsibletourism activities and species traffic.

WWF has been working in the Bolivian Pantanal since 1997and focuses efforts on maintaining its hydro-biologicalprocesses through the sustainable use of natural resourcesand by supporting initiatives aimed at improving the qualityof life of local population.

WWF Bolivia’s first contribution in the Pantanal consistedof supporting the work of the Prefecture of Santa Cruz andthe Noel Kempff Mercado Museum of Natural History byproducing the technical-scientific studies for the creation ofthe only two national protected areas currently existing inthe Bolivian Pantanal: Otuquis and San Matías.

WWF Bolivia’s Pantanal Programme currently works underthe following four lines of action:

1. Protected areas2. Species3. Land use4. Sustainable production systems

WWF Bolivia’s PantanalProgramme



1. Protected areas

Since 1997 WWF has been supporting both protected areas– Otuquis and San Matías – in both their operational (materials,equipment, infrastructure, services, etc.) and institutionalmanagement needs (creation, functioning, ManagementCouncil training, staff training, etc.), as well as sustainableproductive projects as permitted depending on use andzoning restrictions.

WWF will continue supporting the two protected areas atleast until 2009, committed to conserving the headwatersthat provide water to the Pantanal, through sustainablenatural resources management.

© FAUNAGUA

© SEIMON, HALLOY, FRANCO

1. Species

WWF Bolivia will disseminate information over the next threeyears aiming to generate conservation strategies for flagshipspecies, such as the Giant river otter (Pteronura brasiliensis)and the Hyacinth macaw (Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus).

© Willemijn NAGEL


© SBDA

1. Land use

In synergy with its work in the two protected areas locatedin the Bolivian Pantanal, WWF, over the past few years, hasgenerated local capacities through different strategies:

- Strengthening of municipal environmental managementcapacities through the creation and initial start up forthe Local Committees for Economic Development(referred to as Codel in Bolivia) in the municipalities ofPuerto Quijarro, Puerto Suárez and San Matías.

- Creation and initial start up for the Association of PantanalMunicipalities, prompted by the association of all threeCodels, and subsequently including the municipality ofEl Carmen Rivero Torres

- Creation and institutionalization of the Environmentaland Natural Resources Unit of the Municipality of PuertoQuijarro

WWF will continue working towards promoting an organizedand planned development for the region by providingtechnical information in a timely manner, as well as organizingdiscussion forums that contribute to adequate decisionmaking for the sustainable development of the ecoregion.Efforts will also continue in terms of municipal environmentalmanagement, for which support for the functioning of theEnvironmental and Natural Resources Unit of the Municipalityof Puerto Quijarro will be targeted.

With the same purpose of strengthening local capacities,teachers and educational authorities have jointly elaborated– for the first time in Bolivia – an educational curriculumcontextualized to the Pantanal ecoregion, through whichelementary level students learn about their environment andits conservation. All this has been achieved within theparameters of the national Educational Reform, whichidentifies the need of natural sciences to be a transversalin formal education, and it has been validated by the Ministryof Education and the Departmental Service of Education(Seduca) of the Prefecture of Santa Cruz.

For WWF, the follow up on the achievements regarding theimplementation of the environmental education curriculumfor elementary school level is fundamental, and it is alsoexpected to start an intervention at high school level, basedon the lessons learned during the past three years.

1. Sustainable production systems

This line of action promotes – through sustainable practices– the improvement of productive and/or commercial activitiesand, consequently, the quality of life of the local inhabitants.A good example of this is the fishing management, whoseresults can be seen in a solid fishermen’s cooperative withits self-management capacity and which has developed afishing management plan to ensure the sustainability of itsactivities. In addition, this management plan accompaniesthe new fishing policies that are being proponed at thedepartmental and national level, ensuring the considerationof regional aspects and thus the possibility of better decisionmaking.

Since cattle ranching is one of the most important economicactivities in the ecoregion, the dissemination of technicalinformation regarding its sustainability has been consideredimportant. Roughly 100 individuals from 20 communitiesfrom the Ángel Sandoval Province have been benefited fromthis information, and, during the past 3 years, 57 peoplehave been trained as cattle ranching operators.

Aware that tourism represents an important potential for thePantanal region, WWF supported the development ofmunicipal tourism strategies in Puerto Quijarro, Puerto Suárezand San Matías, beginning with the identification of localattractions as well as orienting the priority areas to bedeveloped. In addition, training and awareness have alsobeen implemented regarding the subject.

During 2007-2009, WWF will continue supporting fishingand hydro-biological resources management, such as thoseaimed at the Caiman (Caiman crocodilus yacare). Based ona diagnosis of opportunities and feasibility, sustainable cattleranching practices will continue to be promoted, as well asthe development of sustainable tourism, considering theseactions that contribute to appreciating the natural landscapewhile at the same time providing support to economicactivities through environmentally friendly practices.

Using radio jingles, TV spots and various graphic materials,all four lines of action will be supported by the campaign“Pantanal is life”, which will contribute to the knowledgeand appreciation of the Pantanal with special emphasis onprotected areas

© WWF-Canon / Michel GUNTHER


Edition: WWF Bolivia • Production: Barbián Comunicación • June 2007

WWFThe global conservation organizationWWF’s mission is to stop the degradation of the planet’s natural environment and tobuild a future in which humans live in harmony with nature by:•Conserving the world’s biological diversity•Ensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainable•Promoting the reduction of pollution and wasteful consumption.

WWF Bolivia’s Pantanal Programme is supported by WWF Netherlands and WWFSwitzerland for the implementation of proposed activities until 2009.

WWF BoliviaCalle Los Pitones Nº 2070(Av. Beni, entre 2do. y 3er. anillo)Santa Cruz, BoliviaTel.: +591-3-3430609Fax: [email protected]/bolivia

WWF Bolivia develops its activities in collaboration with local organizations as well as with help fromnational research, training and development organizations.

National partner institutions of WWF Bolivia withinits Pantanal Programme (1997 – 2006)

Armonía AssociationProceso Educational ServicesNoel Kempff Mercado Museum’s Friends Foundation (Fuamu)Noel Kempff Mercado Natural History MuseumCenter for Participation and Sustainable Human Development (Cepad)Organization for the Management of the Tourism Destination Santa Cruz (OGD)Bolivian Environmental Law Society (SBDA)Faunagua AssociationInfocal Foundation Santa CruzNational Protected Areas Service (Sernap) - San Matías Protected AreaNational Protected Areas Service (Sernap) - Otuquis Protected Area

Municipal Government of Puerto SuárezMunicipal Government of Puerto QuijarroMunicipal Government of San MatíasAssociation of Pantanal Municipalities

Considering the numerous conservation and sustainable development needs of the ecoregion, WWFBolivia and WWF Brazil jointly coordinate efforts in the Pantanal. This also allows to maximize resourcesso that ecoregional goals can be achieved through an integrated management vision of the world’slargest tropical wetland: the Pantanal.

Fotos: © WWF / Gustavo YBARRA

Documents

Pantanal PROGRAMME