On World Wetlands Day communities throughout the La Plata Basin are asking for support in their fight for their endangered wetland ecosystems
By
Eva Schmitz
The new year has barely begun but already record high summer temperatures are being reported in parts of South America, especially Argentina, Paraguay and Southern Brazil. The latest heatwave, with temperatures of up to 45C, arrives on top of two years of severe drought which had a devastating effect on the entire region. It is a painful reminder of the immediacy of climate change and emblematic for what happens when vital ecosystems are not protected and for the catastrophic consequences as much on already endangered wildlife as on the local communities who depend on them for their livelihoods. One of the most affected areas are the regions wetlands – unique ecosystems, which are crucial ecological pressure points, vital for the regulation of river systems and huge carbon sinks. Their loss not only has ecological impacts but affects thousands of local communities which depend on their health for fishing, tourism and local agriculture. The threat to them by for example droughts and fires, can be directly linked to the large-scale production of soy, produced mainly for export. This in turn means responsibility for what is happening in the region needs to be acknowledged and shared by leaders around the world, and especially large importers such as the Netherlands.
Today, on World Wetlands Day, I would like to take the opportunity to highlight the specific importance of these wetlands for both climate change mitigation and adaptation, whilst also shining a light on the inspiring efforts by the local organisations with whom Both ENDS works to protect the La Plata Basin's unique ecosystems.
Importance of wetlands
Wetlands are one of the most unique and biodiverse ecosystems of the world. They perform two important functions in relation to climate change, as they store carbon and therefore help mitigate climate change. Wetlands also absorb abundant water and this way play a role in adapting to changing rainfall patterns. Despite this vital role in keeping the world's climate and the region's water levels in balance, wetlands are being gravely threatened by environmental degradation through human activity. And it is important to note that in the La Plata Basin, many of these threats can be directly linked to impacts caused by Dutch government policies, Dutch companies and Dutch consumers.
Dutch policy threatens the Pantanal
The Netherlands, being Europe's top importer of soy beans from South America, contributes to the ever-expanding agricultural frontier into the fragile and unique ecosystems of wetlands of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Bolivia. This frontier does not only expand through slash and burn tactics of expanding fields, but also through a growing network of infrastructure projects - countless ports, roads, small and large dams - needed to transport the soy beans to the import markets. This infrastructure further exacerbates the already rampant destruction of precious river systems and natural wonders such as the Pantanal wetlands.
Additionally, climate change is already increasingly manifesting itself in the La Plata Basin. Last year, the water levels of the Parana river were the lowest in almost eighty years. This is due to the extreme drought and dwindling rainfall upstream in Brazil. Experts mention that wetlands degradation, hydroelectric dams, and deforestation on top of the climate crisis, have worsened the drought that began in 2019. Two years ago, the extreme drought and slash and burn that nearly 30% of the unique Pantanal wetland area was destroyed in completely unprecedented series of wildfires
Local communities protect the wetlands
However, many of the regions' communities have not given up the struggle yet . They are fighting not only against the loss of important ecosystems and unique biodiversity, but also against the ensuing loss of local communities' livelihoods through the destruction of valuable fishing areas or tourists spots, as well as the loss of their cultural heritage which is entwined in the health of the rivers and wetlands.
Both ENDS has since 1995 been working together with a coalition of partners towards the goal of protecting the La Plata Basin. Over the past years, in our programme 'Wetlands without Borders' local organisations have mounted political actions for the protection of the ecosystems. But they have also been busy designing methods and practices of livelihood which are in harmony with their natural surrounding. Through embracing new practices specifically adapted to wetlands areas local people are for example supported in developing agro-ecological farms in Bolivia and Brazil, or trained to produce unique 'Wetland honey' in Paraguay. This experience shows that there are plenty of opportunities to mitigate climate change and enhance the ecosystem's adaptive capacities through protection of wetlands without giving up economical or social development.
But their battle against climate change and environmental degradation can not be won in one country or one region alone. The Dutch government has been doing great strides towards climate adaptation in their own country, and it has big ambitions when it comes to supporting other countries in their plans to adapt, such as through the Global Centre on Adaptation based in the Netherlands.
So while the local communities are doing their best to protect some of the world's most vulnerable ecosystems, they and we are asking countries like the Netherlands to do much more when it comes to transforming their ambitions into tangible realities. For example we call on them to play an decisive role in ensuring that the new EU regulation on deforestation is indeed as robust as it can bee. (See statement to be released on February 3rd by civil society actors from all over Europe. )
Click here for the Wetlands Without Borders website and for the latest news of the region.
For more information
Themes
Read more about this subject
-
Dossier /Soy: trade in deforestation
The rising demand for soy is having negative consequences for people and the environment in South America. Both ENDS reminds Dutch actors in the…
-
Dossier /Wetlands without Borders
With our Wetlands without Borders program, we work towards environmentally sustainable and socially responsible governance of the wetlands…
-
News / 15 June 2023Biocultural corridors to restore the La Plata Basin
Even a region like the South American La Plata Basin, known for it's majestic rivers and wetlands, is struggling with drought. A group of organisations…
-
News / 10 October 2024Argentina’s Matanza-Riachuelo Biocultural Corridor
The Matanza-Riachuelo River, which runs through the city of Buenos Aires, is known to be one of the most polluted waterways in the world. Yet it also…
-
News / 14 November 2018Celebrating the River Paraguay
Each year on the 14th of November, in the Brazilian city of Cáceres the 'Day of the Paraguay River' (Dia do Rio Paraguai) is celebrated. This tradition started in the year 2000, when civil society mobilized for the first time and successfully campaigned against the construction of the Hidrovía…
-
News / 2 November 2015Not soy, but music in the Brazilian Pantanal!
The Pantanal, in the heart of South America, at the border of Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay, is the world’s largest freshwater wetland with an extremely rich biodiversity. Tourism and fishing are the main sources of income for the local population. This enormous natural area is invaluable for the water management of a large part of the continent, stretching all the way down to the Argentinian La Plata area, some 1,500 kilometres away. The area…
-
News / 19 June 2024Recognition for PROBIOMA from the Chamber of Deputies of the Plurinational State of Bolivia
PROBIOMA have received recognition from the Chamber of Deputies of the Plurinational State of Bolivia. The presentation of this tribute took place at…
-
News / 26 August 2022Fires in the Paraná Delta show urgent need for a Wetlands Law
In Argentina, the wetlands of the Paraná Delta are burning. The fires, caused by human activity and aggrevated by climate change, clearly show the wetlands need protection. The Argentinian organisations that form part of the Wetlands without Borders programme are therefore calling for a strong…
-
Dossier /Large-scale infrastructure
Large-scale infrastructural projects have detrimental effects on local people and the environment, while their benefits are felt elsewhere. Both ENDS is…
-
External link / 19 June 2020Faith and life in a wetland without borders (Annual Report 2019)
A popular committee succeeded in preventing a licence for a hydrodam in the river Jauquara, Brazil. Building a transnational people's movement to protect the wetland ecosystem: that's what the Wetlands Without Borders programme is all about. "Being connected provides a lifeline for…
-
News / 26 September 2018Temporary ban on new hydro dams in the Brazilian Pantanal
Good news from Brazil! The National Water Agency (ANA) has stopped issuing new permits for the construction of hydroelectric dams in the Brazilian Paraguay river basin, which is part of the Pantanal wetlands in South-America. The suspension will last at least until May 2020, after the publication of…
-
External link / 20 January 2022Wetlands without Borders
The Wetlands without Borders programme aims to preserve the biodiversity of the La Plata Basin and the sustainable livelihoods of its communities. Preservation of the La Plata Basin is essential for protecting the region from flood and drought, and preserving the quality of life of its…
-
News / 12 October 2018The Soy Coalition ended, but the work must and will go on!
After 15 years, the members of the Dutch Soy Coalition have decided to disband the coalition. A total of 16 civil society organisations have worked together for many years to put the negative impact of the production, transport, processing and consumption of soy on the agenda and to seek…
-
External link / 24 August 2022A growing movement for agroecology (Annual Report 2021)
Fundamentally changing the current food and agricultural system towards greater ecological sustainability, social justice, and resilience is a top priority for Both ENDS and our partners worldwide. Together, we are contributing to the growing global movement for agroecology. As part of the Wetlands without Borders programme, partners across the La Plata Basin region of South America further expanded the agroecological practices as a key…
-
Blog / 15 April 2024The year of truth: EU Member States urged to combat deforestation
The EU is the world's largest "importer of deforestation," due to the huge volumes of unsustainably produced soy, timber, palm oil, and other raw materials that EU member states import. After many years of delay, the European Parliament and the European Council passed a law in December 2023 to address this problem: The EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). Both ENDS is part of a broad coalition of organizations that have been pushing for this European legislation. However, there is now a serious delay, and perhaps even postponement, of the law's implementation. Objections have been…
-
Blog / 28 May 2020South American organisations are pushing back their boundaries
By Eva SchmitzThe Rio de la Plata Basin in South America extends across Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. The livelihoods of the millions of people who live there – city-dwellers, small farmers and fishers, and indigenous peoples – are under pressure from soya cultivation, mining and logging, and by the…
-
News / 24 September 2024Massive Wildfires Ravage South America
“The fires have reached proportions we have never experienced before.”
Large swathes of South America are currently draped in smoke. From Buenos Aires, to São Paulo to Asunción people struggle to breathe due to unprecedented fires raging on the continent, fuelled by extreme drought, the expansion of the agriculture frontier and rising temperatures linked to…
-
News / 15 November 2018All Eyes on the Amazon: the future of protecting forests in Brazil
On Wednesday, November 14, Dutch Newspaper De Volkskrant published a joint op-ed by Both ENDS, Hivos, Greenpeace Netherlands and Witness about the deforestation in the Amazon region which is still going on rapidly, having disastrous consequences for the indigenous people who live in the area, for biodiversity and for the climate. The Netherlands is one of the largest buyers of Brazilian agricultural products such as soy and beef, and should…
-
Press release / 26 August 2020Dutch pension funds invest in deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon
Dutch pension money is invested heavily in companies that contribute to deforestation in the Amazon region and the Cerrado savanna in Brazil, such as soy, animal feed and beef companies. This is concluded in a report published today by Profundo, commisioned by the Fair Finance Guide, Hivos and Both ENDS. All ten pension funds that were examined invest in these types of companies, with the ABP pension fund and Pensioenfonds Zorg en Welzijn on…
-
Publication / 26 August 2020
