- Firefighters are battling wildfires in Brazil’s Pantanal, the world’s largest tropical wetland.
- Close to 32,000 hectares have already been destroyed by the fires in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul.
- At more than 42 million acres, the Pantanal is the largest tropical wetland. The Pantanal comprises about 3% of the entire world’s wetlands.
Wetlands
- These are places where the land is covered by water, either salt, fresh or somewhere in between—covering just over 6% of the Earth’s land surface.
- Sprinkled throughout every continent except Antarctica, they provide food, clean drinking water, and refuge for countless people and animals around the world.
- Despite their global significance, an estimated one-half of all wetlands on the planet have disappeared.
- It sprawls across three South American countries Bolivia, Brazil and Paraguay—and supports millions of people there, as well as communities in the lower Rio de la Plata Basin.
- This massive wetland has the largest concentration of crocodiles in the world, with approximately 10 million caimans.
- Jaguars, the largest feline in America have one of the highest densities in Pantanal compared to anywhere in the world.
- The Pantanal is also home to the biggest parrot on the planet, the hyacinth macaw.
- Less than 5% of the Pantanal is protected. The areas that are protected are globally significant, with parts that fall under an agreement called Ramsar.
- Around 95% of the Pantanal is under private ownership, the majority of which is used for cattle grazing.
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