VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBR #1770/01 2341900
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 221900Z AUG 06
FM AMEMBASSY BRASILIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6445
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ AUG ASUNCION 5601
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RHEBAAA/DOE WASHDC
RUEHC/DOI WASHDC
RUEAWJA/DOJ WASHDC
RUEAEPA/HQ EPA WASHDC
RUEANAT/NASA HQ WASHDC
RUCPDC/NOAA WASHDC
RUEHRC/USDA WASHDC
RUCPDO/USDOC WASHDC

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 
 
 
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Summary 
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¶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. 
 
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The Event 
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¶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. 
 
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Conclusion 
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¶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