Photos of the Pantanal

I was talking about deforestation earlier today and I found this photo by Sandra Figueiredo on Flickr. These types of scenes are not too tremendously common along the Paraguay River but happen more often than they should. Somebody who owns a herd this big knows they aren't allowed near the river.

Check out Sandra's other photos of the Pantanal using the link below. From time to time I'll be posting links to the best photos I find on the web of the Pantanal.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sandrafigueiredo/sets/1512714/

Deforestation of the Pantanal

Mike sent me this article about the destruction of the Pantanal wetlands due to increased farming and logging. Unfortunately, this is something that is happening due to the extreme poverty of the people and due to greed. I can understand the poor cutting down some trees to make a small homestead for himself. This however is not the real problem. Rich farmers and cattlemen have invaded the wetlands and are daily increasing the size of their ranches at will because the sheer size of the Pantanal makes policing it almost impossible. The Pantanal region is so large that it doesn't affect our fishing now but could in the future.

http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/34461/story.htm