PARADISE LOST? - Protecting the Pantanal, a precious ecosystem in crisis

Intensive farming in the upland plateau - where the Cerrado meets the Pantanal - is a further concern due to erosion and agrochemical run-off into waterways, which threaten biodiversity and the ‘flood pulse’ that is the lifeblood of the wetland48. [...] In a speech to the UN General Assembly for the World Biodiversity Summit on September 30, 2020, Jair Bolsonaro denied the gravity of the crisis in the Pantanal, and attempted to use the ongoing wildfires in the Western United States to deflect attention - for comparison, the fires in the Pantanal burnt more than double the area of the California 2020 wildfire season74. [...] Pictures: © EJF 15 Pantanal, Amazon, Cerrado – A pattern of devastation The devastation of the Pantanal mirrors the intensifying threat to other Brazilian biomes, such as the Amazon, the Cerrado, the Pampas and the Caatinga, from intensive agriculture. [...] Furthermore, the health of the Pantanal is directly linked to the health of the Cerrado highlands surrounding it and whose rivers feed the wetland, and the Amazon rainforest’s ability to generate rainfall in the region78. [...] Consumers in the EU are unknowingly funding the decimation of this precious wetland and the people and biodiversity reliant upon it.  JBS – the largest meat-processing company in the world – has been embroiled in a litany of scandals, including allegations of modern slavery104,105, the illegal sale of rotten and salmonella-tainted meat106, and bribery of multiple government officials107.