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Last year, our partner charity The Environmental Justice Foundation introduced us to Chalana Esperança, a dedicated group of grassroots environmental defenders working to protect the Pantanal – the world’s largest wetland.
We all know about the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest, but hardly anyone hears about the destruction going on just south of the Amazon in the Pantanal. The Pantanal is a gigantic seasonal floodplain spanning Brazil, Bolivia, and Paraguay, and is home to a staggering variety wildlife including jaguars, tapirs, capybaras, and the greatest diversity of aquatic plants on the planet!
Sadly, a dangerous concoction of deforestation, destructive agriculture and the climate crisis is seriously threatening this wonderful biome. Back in 2020, record-breaking fires burned nearly a third of the Pantanal to the ground, killing 17 million animals and causing the loss of livelihoods and food security for Indigenous communities. It may be hard to believe that a wetland could be so severely affected by fires, but there was a ‘helping hand’ fanning the flames. According to a Guardian article, firefighters reported that 96-98% of the fires were intentionally started by ranchers aiming to convert more of this globally important wetland into cattle pasture. Much of this destruction can be directly liked to our western markets and a six-month Greenpeace investigation in 2021 revealed that the Pantanal is burning to provide beef and leather to Europe.
Chalana Esperança, in collaboration with the Environmental Justice Foundation, have documented the shocking human and environmental rights abuses taking place in the Pantanal. Route One provided funding for camera equipment used by Chalana Esperança to shine a spotlight on environmental injustice, and call for peaceful, equitable and sustainable futures.
To say thanks, a member of the charity, who happens to share our passion for skateboarding as well as our hope for a better world, sent us this lovely video:
Find out more about the Pantanal here:
https://ejfoundation.org/news-media/lulas-other-problem-not-the-amazon-the-wetlands
https://ejfoundation.org/news-media/a-wetland-under-siege-is-the-pantanal-a-paradise-lost
