Wantzen, Karl;
Girard, Pierre;
Fabio, Roque;
Nunes da Cunha, Catia;
Chiaravalloti, Rafael;
Nunes, Andre;
Bortolotto, Ieda;
... Penha, Jerry; + view all
(2023)
The Pantanal: how long will there be life in the rhythm of the waters?
In: Wantzen, Karl M, (ed.)
River culture: life as a dance to the rhythm of the waters.
(pp. 497-536).
UNESCO: France.
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Abstract
The Pantanal is a huge, seasonal floodplain wetland in central South America. In the triangle of the countries of Brazil, Bolivia, and Paraguay, the Upper Paraguay River floods an area of approximatively 180,000 km² between December and June. The flood pulse migrates from the northern to the southern part of the ca. 700 km long floodplain, and due to the expansion-contraction cycle, the peak of the flood moves in a north-south direction over three months. Arid conditions and natural bushfires during the drought period concentrate the aquatic fauna in the remaining rivers, flood channels, lakes and swamps. Humans, as well as fauna and flora, have developed remarkable adaptive traits to cope with these extreme conditions. The original population of native indigenous peoples has been strongly decimated. Some of their cultural elements are still alive, however, and have influenced the 'Pantaneiro' culture of the traditional fishers and ranchers that have lived in the Pantanal over several 100 years. This makes the Pantanal a showcase of how 'living in the rhythm of the waters' is possible. In the past decades, however, economic interests have triggered enormous environmental pressures. In the catchment of the Upper Paraguay River, a fast-growing number of dams disturbs the natural flow regime and interrupts migration routes for the most important fish species. Industrial agriculture releases enormous amounts of eroded soils and pesticides, while fast-expanding cities with badly working sanitation systems pollute the rivers. Inside the Pantanal, modernization of cattle ranching and crop agriculture homogenizes the highly diverse, park-like landscape, eliminates the sustainable but less cost-efficient landuse forms, and erodes biocultural diversity. Policies favoring fisheries tourism over traditional, artisanal fishing further contribute to a rural exodus. Climate change and expansion of farmland have led to untimely and deleterious, man-made fires. The transboundary Hidrovia project plans to transform the highly dynamic Paraguay River into a waterway navigable for larger vessels, which would dramatically reduce living conditions for all wetland biota and traditional cultures. Existing conservation and sustainable management plans urgently need to be implemented. Cultural adaptations to the floodplain inundation cycle and techniques of common resource sharing still exist and could serve as examples for other places.
| Type: | Book chapter |
|---|---|
| Title: | The Pantanal: how long will there be life in the rhythm of the waters? |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.54677/DYRD7304 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.54677/DYRD7304 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © The Authors 2024. Original content in this chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/igo/). |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS > Dept of Anthropology |
| URI: | https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10201336 |
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