Explaining Brazil #313: The Pantanal’s jaguars

Author

Euan Marshall
October 23, 2024 • Reading Time: 3 minutes

Brazil is home to 15 to 20 percent of the planet’s biodiversity, with more endemic plant and animal species than anywhere else in the globe. As such, Brazilian voices are often among the most sought-after at major international biodiversity conferences.

That is no different this week, as COP16 kicks off in Cali, Colombia, for two weeks of debates and negotiations from representatives of almost 200 countries around the world.

Fernando Tortato, a biologist and conservation program coordinator at wild cat NGO Panthera, is one of those voices flying the flag for Brazil, and most specifically, for the country’s Pantanal tropical wetlands, under immense stress from yet another devastating wave of wildfires.

Before he set off for Cali, we sat down with Fernando to talk about all things biodiversity, Pantanal, and of course, the region’s famous jaguars.

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This episode used music from Uppbeat and Envato. License codes: Fairytales by Daniel Zambo, Aspire by Pryces (B6TUQLVYOWVKY02S), and Private Investigation by AMZA (V9ZG3LD).

In this episode:

  • Fernando Tortato is a conservation scientist with Panthera, a wild cat conservation organization 

Background reading:

  • COP LINK IN NL

  • We showed how eco-tourism in the Pantanal transformed jaguars from agricultural pests to wildlife treasures.

  • In our Brazil Daily newsletter, we explained Environment Minister Marina Silva’s proposal for Brazil to start declaring climate emergencies before they happen, as a way to better mitigate their impacts.

  • In episode #308, we took a closer look at Brazil’s climate emergency, explaining that the extreme effects of changing patterns will be felt hard in Brazil in the coming years.

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