SOS Pantanal Institute is released and promises hard work on conservation
Information and dialogue for a Sustainable Pantanal. It was with that phrase printed on a poster, that the event to launch the Institute SOS Pantanal was open, on July 13, at Novotel in Campo Grande (MS).
The objective of the SOS Pantanal is to promote knowledge management and dissemination of information with the main stakeholders (governments, large enterprises, farmers and small owners of land in the region) and the general population in order to trigger positive impacts on the conservation and sustainability of the Pantanal.
The SOS Pantanal, along with the entities SOS Atlantic Forest, WWF-Brazil, Conservation International, Avina and Ecoa, with the support of Embrapa Pantanal, held an unprecedented survey of the Pantanal vegetation, based on updated satellite images of 2008. The results showed that the Pantanal plain remains intact with about 85% of its native vegetation cover, while the plateau (area where the rivers of the Pantanal are born) holds still only 40% of its native vegetation cover.
For Mario Mantovani, who works for 35 years in the fight for environmental preservation, the Pantanal SOS arrived in a very timely moment. "The idea of joining together for the Pantanal conservation is very positive and creates a strong identity for the region" he said.
"SOS Pantanal is an entity with its own line of communication. Coming to add efforts with all other existing entities for a common good: the preservation of the ecosystem," said the businessman Roberto Klabin, president of the Institute. Klabin reinforced the importance of meetings and seminars to discuss and clarify issues on the Pantanal.
The executive director of SOS Pantanal, Alessandro Menezes, finalized the launch by saying that "Information is key factor for the implementation of all projects."
About the Pantanal
The Pantanal is located in the Upper Paraguay River Basin (BAP), a sedimentary plain of about 160,000 km2, between Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay, located mostly in the Brazilian territory, covering the states of Mato Grosso do Sul and Mato Grosso. It is considered one of the largest wetlands in the world, forming a highly productive environment and recognized by UNESCO as Natural Patrimony of Humanity and Biosphere Reserve.
In the Pantanal, biodiversity is of great importance: there are at least 3,500 species of plants, 463 birds, 124 mammals, 177 of reptiles, 41 amphibians and 325 species of freshwater fishes, some at risk of extinction.
Source: Carla Layane
