Jaguar
Identification Project
Pantanal Relief Fund
In an effort to help and support the people of the Pantanal that are like family to us, the Pantanal Relief Fund was created through Climb for Conservation, by April Kelly and Abbie Martin, of the Jaguar Identification Project.
The Northern Pantanal is on fire and needs our help! It is with heavy hearts we are asking for your donations, which will be sent to the Pantanal for firefighting efforts and covid-19 relief assistance.
Fires in the Northern Pantanal
Wildfires have a network of negative effects on the environment and the people that inhabit the area. Wildfires directly kill a vast array of species of all orders big and small, especially when the animals that cannot escape the flames quickly. Species that live in the Pantanal and are already struggling to survive on today’s planet are further being pushed to extinction at an alarming rate. Apart from the direct killing, many animals lose their shelter and feeding sources, especially in the areas of riverine forest. Aside from this, when the rains finally do come, tons of ashes will reach the river systems and lagoons, killing millions of fish and fouling the water sources.
The current fires are located in and around all of the major communities throughout the Pantanal, including the world famous Transpantaneira and Porto Jofre region.
Fires in the Pantanal are not an irregular thing, in fact each dry season fires naturally occur. However, after each dry season, the rainy season comes, followed by seasonal flooding across the entire region. This hydrologic cycle naturally keeps these fires in check, but this year the rains and flooding were extremally mild, resulting in the driest rainy season in the last 50 years.
