Pantanal Wetland: Brazilian scientists warn that the Pantanal is at risk of collapse

What is the News?

Pantanal Wetland (​​world’s largest wetland) is at the risk of collapse due to a series of decisions that aims to open up the wetland to more intensive uses that collectively threaten the long-term survival of the Wetland.

What is Pantanal Wetland?

Pantanal Wetland is a natural region encompassing the world’s largest tropical wetland area and the world’s largest flooded grasslands. 

Location: It is located mostly within Brazil, but it extends into portions of Bolivia and Paraguay. 

Vegetation: The vegetation of the Pantanal often referred to as the “Pantanal complex” is a mixture of plant communities– moist tropical Amazonian rainforest plants, semiarid woodland plants, Brazilian Cerrado savanna plants and plants of the Chaco savannas of Bolivia and Paraguay.

Keystone Species: The apple snail is a keystone species in Pantanal’s ecosystem. 

Wildlife: Pantanal has the largest concentration of crocodiles in the world, with approximately 10 million caimans. The Pantanal is also home to the biggest parrot on the planet, the hyacinth macaw. 

Significance: I​​n 2000, part of this ecoregion, the ‘Pantanal Conservation Area’ representing 1.3% of the Brazilian Pantanal was inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

– In the same year, a part of Pantanal Wetland was named as UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.

Source: The post is based on the article “Brazilian scientists warn that the Pantanal is at risk of collapse” published in Down To Earth on 8th May 2022.