Brazil's Pantanal Ranchers Are Key Partners for Freshwater and Jaguar Habitat Conservation
At COP30, the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso and partners commit to expand an innovative program linking cattle production with wetland conservation
Brazil is taking a major step to protect the Pantanal—the world’s largest tropical wetland—by scaling up a pioneering sustainable ranching program through a new public-private partnership highlighted at COP30. This joint initiative , led by the state of Mato Grosso and research institutions, rancher associations, and nonprofit organizations, aims to cover 15% of the Pantanal’s grasslands by 2030, launch of an independent certification system, and mobilize significant new financial commitments to accelerate climate-smart cattle production and wetland conservation.
The Pantanal is a unique ecosystem spanning more than 40 million acres across Brazil, Bolivia, and Paraguay. Composed of vast grasslands, wetlands, and forests, it provides a critical habitat for species such as the jaguar and the giant river otter. Beyond its extraordinary biodiversity, the Pantanal supports the livelihoods of thousands of people living along the floodplains of the Paraguay River. Brazil plays a pivotal role in this region’s conservation—nearly 80% of the Pantanal is located within the country’s borders.
A key opportunity to balance ecosystem protection and economic development lies with the Fazenda Pantaneira Sustentável (FPS), or Sustainable Pantanal Ranch, a science-based sustainability standard designed by Embrapa, the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation. This standard provides ranchers with the practical tools and measurable indicators needed to evaluate and improve their environmental and economic performance.
Through the FPS, each participating ranch undergoes an in-depth assessment to determine whether the pasture is healthy, in addition to any necessary fire management, maintenance of wildlife, and animal welfare approaches. The results help ranchers adopt best practices, reduce environmental impacts, and improve overall productivity.
Since it was piloted in 2020, the FPS standard has grown to nearly 100 ranches across the states of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul, and now covers more than 1.75 million acres, an area almost as large as Yellowstone National Park in the U.S. Early outcomes are promising—participating ranches have improved soil and water management, restored degraded pastures, and demonstrated that sustainable cattle ranching can be both profitable and climate-smart. Among the Mato Grosso ranches participating, these practices have led to a 41% increase in herd fertility, enabled comprehensive management of their properties, and helped to protect and conserve native grasslands on their land.
Cattle ranching has shaped the Pantanal for more than 300 years, and today some 90% of the region remains privately owned, mostly by ranchers. Despite this long history of land use, more than 80% of the Pantanal’s native vegetation remains intact and large animals like the jaguar are abundant, illustrating the historic compatibility between traditional ranching and native ecosystems. The FPS tools support ranchers in maintaining this low-impact socioeconomic system, even as pressures on the Pantanal—such as wildfires, land-use change, and disruptions to natural water flows—continue to grow.
This public-private partnership—bringing together the government, Pontes Pantaneiras, nongovernmental organizations, and private landowners—is now working to expand the FPS standard to cover 15% (2 million hectares, or roughly 5 million acres) of the Pantanal’s grasslands by 2030. Led by Mato Grosso, with the support of the state’s most important agricultural federation, FAMATO, the partnership will highlight commitments at this year’s United Nations COP30 climate summit—including expanded participation, increased land coverage, and new financial contributions—to achieve the common goal of accelerating the application of this sustainable ranching standard.
Embrapa Pantanal, the corporation's Pantanal unit, intends to launch a fully independent certification system to verify FPS implementation, while Brazil’s Ministry of the Environment will integrate the tool into national biodiversity, climate, and land-use strategies. To strengthen adoption of the FPS standard, producer organizations such as FAMATO and Brazil's National Rural Learning Service will provide participating ranchers with training, technical assistance, and monitoring.
Pontes Pantaneiras (Pantanal Bridges)—a coalition created in 2022 that brings together Embrapa Pantanal, the Instituto de Pesquisas Ecológicas (Institute of Ecological Research), The Pew Charitable Trusts, the Smithsonian Institution, and University College London to promote sustainability of the Pantanal region—will support the expansion of FPS implementation in Mato Grosso do Sul to 25 ranches by 2027. As part of this expansion effort, the Aliança 5P, a nonprofit civil association that includes landowners in Mato Grosso do Sul, will support the development of model ranches within its network of landholdings. Working with the coalition and other partners, The Pew Charitable Trusts will support mobilizing at least $1 million in private financing over the next two years to accelerate scaling this initiative.
This collaborative effort to support sustainable land use over a vast natural region is a bright spot for international environment conservation, showing how diverse sectors can work together to address major challenges. The initiative offers a hopeful message from the heart of South America.
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