The Pantanal could face one of the worst droughts in the last 60 years. The level of the Miranda River, one of the main rivers in the biome, in Mato Grosso do Sul, worries river dwellers and experts. Navigating it currently is a challenge.
Fisherman Bruno Rodrigues is well aware of this reality. “You have to dodge the drier places and try to pass right there, and if you can’t dodge, you have to get off the boat and pull because of the gravel. It’s not sand”, declares the boy.
Traditional communities in the region, which depend on fishing, see their fish numbers dwindle.
“You caught as many dorado as you wanted, as many pacu as you wanted, whatever you wanted to catch, you caught,” laments Geraldo Alves, another fisherman who lives in the Pantanal of Mato Grosso do Sul.
According to residents, around 5 years ago the water in the Miranda River passed through the middle of the pillar. Currently, it is down to base. Comparing then to now, the river level dropped by around 6 meters.
In the background, large islands, which were ravines, turned into walls. This situation on the Miranda River affects the entire Pantanal. Remembering that it is a tributary of the Paraguay River, the largest in the biome.
“Today it is around one meter twenty in height when it should be eight meters and sixty meters high, and this directly influences the Paraguay River, so much so that the ruler of the Paraguay River, today, is one meter below two thousand and twenty-one, which was one of the biggest droughts, as well as in sixty-four. in other words: in one hundred and twenty-four years 124 years of measurement is the lowest level! This negatively influences the economic issue, because it will directly affect livestock farming, right, with a lack of water and local tourism”.
Felipe Dias, technical director of SOS Pantanal
Among the reasons for drought in rivers are climate change and deforestation.
“The main one is the degradation of the cerrado, around the pantanal, many properties do not manage the soil correctly, they have already deforested much more than they should, there is no riparian forest protecting it. This, in addition to reducing the amount of water that goes down into the pantanal, also brings sediment, silting up the river and bringing agrochemical contaminants”. adds Gustavo Figueirôa, biologist at SOS Pantanal.
