As Brazil fails to protect Pantanal, conservationists take charge
A group of entrepreneurs is setting up a privately owned conservation corridor in Pantanal wetlands. The megaproject covers 151,000 hectares, which combined with those of a neighboring state park amounts to 229,000 hectares, or roughly the size of Luxembourg. The project could potentially reach 600,000 hectares, in which case it would be Brazil's largest conservation project led by the private sector and one of the largest in the world.
A key step was the acquisition of Fazenda Santa Sofia, a farm located in Aquidauana, 200 kilometers from the city of Corumbá. Very well preserved, the farm is bordered by the Aquidauana and Negro rivers, which makes it even more special as cattle ranchers were threatening to deforest it. The property has 83 kilometers of riverbanks.
The intention of the creaters of the preserve is to create a sustainable regional unit through the sale of carbon credits, biodiversity credits, pasture rental and ecotourism. The private sector is moving forward with environmental preservation amid a vacuum at government-led actions and projects.
Santa Sofia covers 34,000 hectares, 32,000 of which still have native vegetation, and of these, 7,387 hectares were turned into a private natural heritage reserve (RPPN) - which can be created by the will of the owner. But the farm was at risk of losing 50% of its vegetation cover after a change in Mato Grosso do Sul state law that allowed for this amount of forest clearance if desired by the new owner.
Fazenda Santa Sofia is among the properties owned by two conservationist businesspeople in the region - Roberto Klabin, who for more than 30 years has provided ecological tourism at Refúgio Ecológico Caiman, a 53,000-hectare farm, and Teresa Bracher, with her 33,000-hectare Fazendinha.
The idea of buying Santa Sofia and creating a biodiversity corridor where livestock, ecotourism and income from carbon and biodiversity credits can coexist came from Mr. Klabin, Ms. Bracher and former racecar driver Mario Haberfeld. He is the creator of Onçafari, a project for biodiversity preservation in several biomes with a focus on jaguars and maned wolves. Onçafari was started at Refúgio Caiman nine years ago.
Santa Sofia was purchased by eight partners for a value that Mr. Haberfeld declined to reveal. Two partners donated their stakes to Onçafari, which will lead the large private-sector conservation project inspired by Sabi Sand reserve in South Africa, which has 50,000 hectares and 24 inns for...
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