An editorial in the New York Times, also published at the International Herald Tribune site, on the Amazon at Risk furthers the call for corporations and governments to make “sound environmental practices a condition of future investment.” The article points out that the biggest threat to the Amazon currently is the rapid growth of soybean farming in the state of Mato Grosso.

An area in Brazil that is receiving increasing attention from tourists is the Pantanal, an exotic wetlands in Mato Grosso that is one of the best places in South America to view wildlife. According to WWF ( the global conservation organization) the main threats to the Pantanal are soybean cultivation, mining, hydroelectricity, and sports fishing. From the WWF site:

While the interest in visiting the Pantanal presents an exciting opportunity to develop tourism as an alternative economic activity compatible with the wetlands, there is a danger of degrading the environment through overexploitation and heavy human impact.

This is already becoming apparent in some of the popularly frequented areas. It is clear that tourism will need to be carefully managed and controlled if the natural attractions that draw visitors are to maintain their appeal into the future.

According to Paulo Teixeira de Sousa Jr. of Brazil’s Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso and co-author, “Ecotourism is okay, but traditional tourism is not…It will take local and international support to keep the Pantanal pristine”. Teixeira is co-author of a recent United Nations University report Inter-linkages Approach for Wetland Management: The Case of the Pantanal Wetland.

An interesting, though now dated 1997, trade industry article on worldwide soybean production provides background to the international demand for this crop.

As the Pantanal becomes a more popular tourist destination, partly because some might find it more accessible than the Amazon, environmental concerns need to be taken into account. This blog will be following developments in Pantanal tourism in further postings.