Great Rivers Partnership - From My Perspective

From My Perspective

Glauco Freitas

Glauco Freitas has been the Great Rivers Partnership manager for the Brazilian Paraguay-Paraná Rivers basin since July 2005. Though his studies focused on invasive species in Brazil's Cerrado region, he has become captivated by the Pantanal's splendid diversity of life since 2000, when he began working for the Conservancy on ecoregional planning to protect the Pantanal.

Freitas calls the Pantanal “a rare jewel, suffering constant threats.” He reminds us that the flooding of the Paraguay River is responsible for sustaining the life cycle of the Pantanal. “To protect the Paraguay River, it is fundamental that we study the impacts of land conversion and environmental problems in the Paraná River basin. The Paraná River basin has had 92 percent of its land converted for different uses, such as agricultural and urban purposes, while the Paraguay River basin has had just 26 percent of its area converted,” he said.

“The Great Rivers Partnership has important duties to preserve the Pantanal landscape, its smells, its sounds, its richness of life and magical freshwater system. When we are connected with this space we feel like a tiny creature, a part of the vastness and importance of life,” says Freitas. “The Pantanal is a fragile ecosystem that could disappear soon, in less then 45 years, if we do not work hard to mitigate its most important threats,” he says, commenting on recent studies forecasting this danger.

Earlier in his career, Freitas lived in the Pantanal National Park for three months. “Each moment is unique—even the sunrise is different each day,” he says. “The local cultures are also unique, with their different kinds of knowledge and with ranching and canoeing as a way of life. These people are struggling to survive in the Pantanal, while surrounded by the best of nature—its biodiversity.”

A biologist since 1995, Freitas earned a master's degree in ecology from São Paulo University in 1999. In 2000, he began work for the Conservancy under the Global Environment Facility Pantanal project. In 2001, he became coordinator of the management plans for Pantanal National Park and the Acurizal, Penha and Doroché private reserves, located on the edges of the park. “That is a magical coincidence; my entire professional life is linked in some way with the Pantanal,” he says. In 2002, he became the assistant for the Pantanal Program; in 2003 he became the Pantanal Program manager. In July 2005, he was named the Great Rivers Partnership manager.

“Thanks to the Conservancy, I have had the great opportunity to continue my work on the Pantanal,” Freitas says. He is fascinated with the variety of experience this work provides. “In the same month, it is possible to talk with community leaders in the Pantanal and with the CEO of corporations.”

Freitas fears that poorly planned infrastructure projects could destroy the Pantanal. “The symphony of flooding and the dry season are responsible for the entire breeding cycle of the Pantanal. Activities that impede flooding could destroy the whole life of the region.”

Freitas would encourage farmers and ranchers to avoid constructing poorly planned dams and dikes and to comply with the Brazilian National Environmental Policy Act, the foundation of environmental law in the country, and the Brazilian Forest Code that establishes private reserves and Areas of Permanent Protections to help protect the Pantanal.

Glauco Freitas

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