PANTANAL REGIONAL MEETING DISCUSSES JOINT MANAGEMENT

UNCLAS BRASILIA 001770 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR OES/ENV JMATUSZAK STATE PLS PASS TO USAID LAC/RSD, LAC/SAM, G/ENV, AND PPC/ENV STATE PLS PASS TO NSF/INTL FOR HSTOLBERG TREASURY FOR USED IBRD AND IDB AND INTL/MDB USDA TO FOREST SERVICE FOR LMAYHEW USDA TO ARS/INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH FOR G FLANLEY INTERIOR TO DIR INT AFFAIRS FOR KWASHBURN INTERIOR TO FWS FOR TRILEY INTERIOR PASS TO USGS/INTERNATIONAL/JWEAVER JUSTICE TO ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES FOR JWEBB EPA FOR INTERNATIONAL/HILL-MACON E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SENV EAGR EAID ECON SOCI TBIO BR SUBJECT: PANTANAL REGIONAL MEETING DISCUSSES JOINT MANAGEMENT -------------- Summary -------------- ¶1. The European Union (EU) hosted the Campo Grande Regional Symposium (CGRS) on the research agenda for the Upper Paraguay River Basin (UPRB) and the Pantanal, July 27-28 in Campo Grande, Brazil. The Pantanal is the vast floodplain of the Upper Paraguay River Basin and is one of the world's most biodiverse ecosystems. It also plays a crucial role in the regional hydrology of this part of South America. Several organizations from Bolivia, Brazil and Paraguay as well as European institutions attended the event to discuss ways to improve regional cooperation among policy makers, stakeholders, and scientific institutions and to promote the sustainable management of the basin. Post believes the EU's support in training, capacity building and exchanging information with these countries is positive. End summary. -------------- The Event -------------- ¶2. The Pantanal is the largest freshwater wetland in the world , comprising an area of 496.000 Km2, 396.800 km2 of which lie within Brazilian borders. The remaining 99.200 km2 are in Bolivia and Paraguay. In Brazil, the Pantanal is a UNESCO world natural heritage site and all three countries protect non-contiguous areas as national parks and biosphere reserves. However, most of the region is in private possession and unprotected in Brazil. While many organizations have developed actions to protect, develop and manage parts of the Pantanal, a coordinated approach to land use, biodiversity conservation and water management is lacking. One serious obstacle is the lack of joint data management across borders. ¶3. The event brought together approximately 80 participants from scientific institutions, universities, and national and international consultants from several organizations. Most importantly, the meeting provided an opportunity for Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay to exchange information, know-how, and experiences on conservation-related decisions and natural resources management of the Pantanal. The main focus of the symposium was to analyze the SWOT -Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats- for the Pantanal. In addition, a draft agenda for institutional and scientific cooperation at national and international levels for the Pantanal region was created, the so-called Research Agenda for the Pantanal and the Upper Paraguay River basin. ¶4. INstitutions and REsearch for the Pantanal (the INREP project) was founded to develop insights into the scientific, political, socio-economic policies, and solutions in the sustainable management of the Pantanal, as well as to strengthen institutional cooperation at national and international levels. The meeting defined approximately 20 priority areas for research and selected three umbrella themes under which to conduct work. The first, the environmental research agenda, emphasizes three priority issues: micro basin restoration studies, water resources and renewable natural resources management. The second, the political-institutional agenda, focused on legislation, management, monitoring and environmental services and education. Finally, the socio-economic agenda will target land use, new technologies for sustainable agriculture, fisheries and organic cattle raising and cultural and historical heritage sites for ecotourism and educational. -------------- Conclusion -------------- ¶5. Currently, there appears to be a lack of political will as well as financial resources to develop a regionally-based, multilateral approach to resource management and sustainable development in the Pantanal. However, this event enabled Bolivia, Brazil and Paraguay to compare their own efforts and perhaps begin a working dialogue on natural resource management with a view towards regional impacts of domestic policies. Post believes it would be beneficial and instructive to support efforts such as these and to look for ways to encourage the three Pantanal countries to share information and better understand the impacts of domestic natural resource policies on this globally important resource. SOBEL