Completed
Rede Amolar
Operates in wildfire prevention and firefighting in the Serra do Amolar region, in the Pantanal, as well as in the rescue and care of wildlife affected by fire.
Location
Location
Community
The Alto Pantanal Brigade has been operating in the Serra do Amolar area and neighboring properties. In 2020, many fires started in private lands that lacked personnel or firefighting infrastructure. A prevention and firefighting base in Serra do Amolar provides rapid response across the territory, both protected areas and private properties.
In addition to the Brigade, the Pantanal Felines Project works with private landowners to minimize conflicts caused by cattle predation by large felines and crop losses to wild pigs, ensuring better practices and harmony between production and conservation. The Pantanal Headwaters Project also operates in spring conservation through dialogue with landowners, proposing and enabling actions to restore degraded areas.
The direct beneficiaries of the Rede Amolar project are IHP employees, their families and local residents of the region, about 403 people distributed across 198 families. These local communities are traditional riverside populations who depend mostly on fishing for live bait to supply recreational fishing tourism. Families face strong seasonality in this activity and during the closed fishing season (piracema), their income sources are almost entirely cut off. The Rede Amolar project generates alternative income for these families, whether through ecotourism or training in ecosystem restoration, while improving their quality of life.
Species
The Pantanal is the world’s largest tropical wetland, covering 250,000 km² in the Upper Paraguay River Basin, mainly in Mato Grosso do Sul and Mato Grosso. The region is defined by seasonal flooding, creating a mosaic of habitats that sustain rich biodiversity. Over 4,700 species have been cataloged in the Pantanal, including endemic animals such as the giant anteater, the hyacinth macaw and the jabiru stork.
The biome is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and Biosphere Reserve for its ecological importance as a nursery for aquatic species, a natural water filter, and a regulator of regional climate. However, the Pantanal faces multiple threats, including deforestation, predatory fishing, mining, expansion of agribusiness and climate change. Preserving this vital biome requires joint action to protect its fauna, flora and the ecosystem services it provides.
Activities
Wildfire prevention: reduce the extent of areas affected by fire by building firebreaks, clearing vegetation in high-risk areas, and promoting environmental education with local populations on fire prevention methods.
Wildfire response (when necessary): direct firefighting (using water, fire beaters, backpack blowers) and indirect firefighting (fire lines, firebreaks, backfires), reducing impacts on local communities and biodiversity.
Wildlife rescue and care: technical rescue and emergency treatment of wild animals affected by fire, carried out by a multidisciplinary team with expertise in wildlife health and management.
Community awareness on wildlife health: lectures and environmental education activities on the sanitary aspects of wildlife, providing knowledge, values and practices that empower the community to feel part of the ecosystem and responsible for preventing, caring, acting and solving present and future environmental challenges.
Impact
100%
of wildfires in the Serra do Amolar region controlled
50
people engaged in environmental education on fire prevention
12
wildfire prevention actions implemented within the Rede Amolar area
4
environmental education activities with six local communities, engaging 30 participants
Celeo Redes
Financial supporter of the project, Jauru Transmissora de Energia S.A. is a power transmission company of the Celeo Group, which operates in renewable energy transmission and generation across more than 10 Brazilian states.
Instituto Homem Pantaneiro (IHP)
The Instituto Homem Pantaneiro is a non-profit civil society organization founded in 2002 and formally established on March 30, 2012, in Corumbá (MS). It works for the conservation and preservation of the Pantanal biome and local culture.
VBIO.eco
A bioeconomy platform that enables projects to valorize Brazilian biodiversity. VBIO.eco has a multidisciplinary team with over 12 years of experience in project management and corporate communication. Its work has enabled the implementation of 23 biodiversity valorization projects and created a network of more than 500 organizations and companies active in socio-environmental causes.