The 170,000 sq km (42m acre) wild expanse harbours one of the world\u2019s most biologically rich environments, with at least 380 species of fish, 580 types of birds and 2,272 different plants. It is one of the main refuges for jaguars and houses a host of vulnerable and endangered species, including giant river otters, giant armadillos and hyacinth macaws.<\/p>\n
It seems a high price to pay \u2013 destroying the Pantanal, a unique system, to reduce the price of grain
\nProf Carolina J da Silva
\nBut plans are under way to revive plans for the Paraguay River, one of the Pantanal\u2019s main arteries, to be turned into an industrial shipping route for crops such as soya beans and sugar.<\/p>\n
Political proponents say the waterway would reduce costs and time for exporting agricultural commodities to North America, Europe and Asia but critics warn that its creation \u2013 which involves building new ports, possibly straightening bends and meanders, and large-scale dredging \u2013 would cause irreversible damage to the wetland and its wildlife.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt seems a high price to pay: destroying the Pantanal, one of the world\u2019s unique systems, to reduce the price of grain,\u201d says Carolina Joana da Silva, a professor at Mato Grosso State University. \u201cIt is a war \u2013 a war which risks extinction.\u201d<\/p>\n Inside a communal fishers\u2019 work shed in C\u00e1ceres, 64-year-old Elza Basto Pereira, the head of the community, says construction materials began arriving along the river six months ago.<\/p>\n \u201cRoads are being built for the planned ports, and materials are being lined up along the river; they keep coming,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n The threat of the development, known as the Hidrovia Paraguay-Paran\u00e1 waterway, has haunted the Pantanal for decades. Early iterations \u2013 which involved dredging and straightening river curves on hundreds of sites \u2013 were shelved by the Brazilian government in 2000 due to environmental concerns.<\/p>\n But the push to develop waterways through the wetland has continued. Now experts believe a new strategy is being deployed, one that sees sections of the project approved piece by piece.<\/p>\n \u201cThe politicians and companies are forcing it through dismembered,\u201d says Girard.<\/p>\n Last year, the Brazilian government announced that the Paraguay River, which drains the wetland for six months then floods it for the rest of the year, would be developed under its growth acceleration programme. Its website says the national project has \u201cgreat potential to reduce transportation costs\u201d and that \u201cdiscussions are being held with society and local stakeholders\u201d.<\/p>\n The government announced an investment of 81m reais [\u00a311m] for dredging, clearing vegetation and adapting the navigable channel\u2019s signage. Preliminary licences were issued for the construction of two port facilities at Porto Esperan\u00e7a and C\u00e1ceres, which opponents say is the first step towards transforming the largest natural section of the Paraguay River into an engineered waterway.<\/p>\n Louren\u00e7o Pereira Leite, 54, sits with Basto Pereira at the C\u00e1ceres fishing shed. They are part of the ribeirinhos (riverside community), who live off sustainable fishing and small-scale farming.<\/p>\n \u201cThey try to deceive us,\u201d Pereira Leite says. \u201cWhen the waterway was first presented in the 90s, the supporters said it would bring prosperity \u2013 it did not. It started to destroy the environment instead.<\/p>\n \u201cNow they come again, with the same words \u2018progress, progress\u2019, but we know it will mark the end of our fishing, our families.\u201d<\/p>\n The Pantanal, often called the \u201ckingdom of water\u201d, is made up of more than 1,200 rivers and streams, and the vast biodiversity relies on the seasonal flood pattern. Scientists fear dredging and deepening will in effect create a \u201cbig drain\u201d, disconnecting the Paraguay River from its floodplain and shrinking the wetland area.<\/p>\n Scientists warn this could destroy aquatic habitats, fish populations, bird nesting areas, and consequently affect other species all the way through the food chain.<\/p>\n Among those most at risk are the black skimmer, neotropic cormorant, Mato Grosso antbird and white-lored spinetail, according to Dr Ang\u00e9lica Vilas Boas da Frota, a local biologist, though larger mammals such as jaguars could also be affected by declining fish populations.<\/p>\n Wetlands are also of global importance for the climate. Despite covering only 5-8% of the Earth\u2019s land surface, they could store up to 30% of terrestrial carbon. The Pantanal is a critical carbon sink, but perpetual dredging \u2013 which would be required for barges to pass, due to the sandy sediment along the riverbed \u2013 would lead to the release of greenhouse gases, further contributing to global warming.<\/p>\n The risk of wildfires could also increase, but such concerns are not being heard, scientists say. \u201cBrazil sees the Amazon as its international environmental playing card,\u201d says Girard, while the Pantanal remains forgotten.<\/p>\n Near Tucum, 55-year-old Edna Luiz Dias grills a freshly caught pacu fish. Her wooden stilted house is surrounded by trees and native plants. \u201cI don\u2019t need much money \u2013 only the fish, the birds, the fruits, the nature,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n \u201cBut this waterway could take that all away. I can already feel the river changing.\u201d<\/p>\n With its deeply curved rivers and thick marshes, this section of the Pantanal, close to C\u00e1ceres, remains sparsely populated by humans, but Porto Esperan\u00e7a already sees the effects of large barges on the river.<\/p>\n An existing port is now used to transport iron. The mineral leaves a thin layer of red dust on the fishing village\u2019s land and trees. There are eight Indigenous communities living in the Pantanal, of which at least the reservation of the Guat\u00f3 people would be directly affected by making the river navigable, scientists say.<\/p>\n \u201cThe barges have already affected the environment, spreading iron over the water, our soil, our plants,\u201d says Natalina Silva Oliveira Mendez, 50. \u201cAdding the new port and creating the Hidrovia will be a disaster.\u201d<\/p>\n Local businessmen, however, say the waterway \u2013 which they hope would facilitate year-round transportation \u2013 will bring economic development and wealth to the region. Adilson Reis is an engineer from C\u00e1ceres and works as a consultant on the project. He predicts it will be operational by 2026.<\/p>\n \u201cAs we develop, it is necessary to increase transport options. For years, the waterway has been paralysed,\u201d the 75-year-old says. \u201cI want the city of C\u00e1ceres, as a person who was born here, to grow. I think the waterway will bring prosperity.\u201d<\/p>\n He agrees that the environment is a concern, but says certain conditions can be enforced \u2013 such as limiting the size of barges \u2013 to mitigate the risk.<\/p>\n In response to this article, the Brazilian ministry for ports and airports said the concerns raised about environmental damage were \u201copinions\u201d without \u201cscientific elements to support them\u201d, and that a debate for each project would be held. The ministry of environment and climate change did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n Among the ribeirinhos, the consensus is that the Hidrovia will indeed go ahead, but they are not ready to give up their centuries-old way of life.<\/p>\n \u201cSociety does not want to hear us because then they can create whatever they want \u2013 dams, waterways, ports,\u201d says Luiz Dias.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I want the world to know that we are here \u2013 and that I will stay and fight for my life and for the Pantanal.\u201d<\/p>\n