The Pantanal is an area of cerrado and
floresta. It contains many rivers (rios)
and fresh and salt water ponds (baias and salinas). It is drained
by slow-moving rivers. Every year in November or December, the chuva starts. The waters flow into the Pantanal
faster than the rivers that flow out can drain it. The low areas of
the Pantanal flood. When the rainy season ends around May, the water
goes down.
What, besides water, do you think the floods added to the soil?
Send your answer to pantanal@esd189.org!
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The mix of fields and forests in the Pantanal.
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Imagine the Europeans arriving
in the New World. Those who landed in New England would face cold winters
and forests that need to be cleared before they could grow their crops,
but also found some good hunting and some of the richest fishing grounds
in the world. The Portuguese settlers who came to Brazil found a warm
and humid climate, wonderful for growing many crops, and also many wonderful
fruits and game animals in the forests. However, before they could
start a farm, they needed to clear the forest.
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The first Portuguese to get
to the Pantanal found fertile grasslands which were flooded each spring.
They could raise their livestock here and plant their crops without
clearing forests. They found many rios, baias, and
salinas teaming with fish . They also learned that the seasonal
flooding added nutrients to the soil each year, just as the flooding of the
Nile River in Egypt fertilized the Nile Valley and made the ancient civilizations
of Egypt possible.
If you were an early settler, would you choose the forests or
the grasslands? How did you decide?
Send
your answer to pantanal@esd189.org!
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The cowboys in the above picture are called Pantaneiros. They
are called Pantaneiros because they are from the Pantanal.
Photo by Ellen Wang
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The people who settled in the
Pantanal found that the land was perfect for raising cattle. They could
let the cattle graze the grasses. At the start of each rainy season,
the Pantaneiros would round up their cattle and drive
them to market in the surrounding cities, very much like the cowboys of
the "wild west" in the USA. Later in the U.S. trucks and trains took
over the cattle drive. In the Pantanal, ranchers still count on the
cattle drive. What is it about the Pantanal makes this necessary?
Send
your answer to pantanal@esd189.org!
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It is also important to know
that the main river of the Pantanal, Rio Paraguay, is very shallow and so
shipping by boat does not work. There has been a proposal to make the
Rio Paraguay deeper so ships can travel through it, but it may endanger the
Pantanal.
Can you imagine how making the Paraguay River deeper might make
the Pantanal drier? (Hint: How is deepening
a river which drains a valley like making a hole in a bucket larger?)
Send
your answer to pantanal@esd189.org!
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The Fazenda's church.
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The Fazenda Rio Negro was established
in 1892 by the Rondon family. Like other Fazendas, it was a community
by itself. They produced the food they would eat and, of course, raise cattle
to sell.
There are outbuildings which were used for storage and for the workers.
The fazenda even had their own church for the family and workers.
How did the Catholic Church become so important in Latin America?
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your answer to pantanal@esd189.org!
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The central farm house was
for the owners. It includes a large kitchen, dining room, bedrooms,
living area, and many shaded porches.
Imagine you
are the owner of this Fazenda. What would your life be like?
Send your answer
to pantanal@esd189.org!
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Rheas share the farm with the livestock. This is the main farmhouse.
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Now, the Fazenda Rio Negro
is the home of a joint project by Conservation International and Earthwatch.
The Fazenda serves as a home for the researchers and the other expedition
members. It also serves as an ecolodge for other guests. The
farm raises enough fruits, vegetables, and livestock to be mostly self-sufficient
and also serves as a model of sustainable agriculture.
Why is conservation of the Pantanal important to the world?
Send
your answer to pantanal@esd189.org!
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Vocabulary
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Cerrado
means grasslands.
Floresta is the Portuguese word for forest.
Chuva means rain.
Rios
are rivers.
Baias are freshwater ponds.
Salinas are saltwater ponds.
Pantaneiro refers to people who live in the Pantanal. Pantaneiro
is also the word for the "cowboys" of the Pantanal. In southern Brazil,
they are called gauchos.
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