Systematic Comparision

EPI's mission includes fostering information and experiences exchanges to promote ecosystem management approaches to complex wetlands. There has been a number of efforts to compare the Everglades and the Pantanal. 

* In 1993, the First Inter-American Dialogue on Water Management held in Miami, Florida used the Comparative Case Study Everglades-Pantanal as the backdrop to discuss issues regarding the sustainable management of water resources. Despite their geomorphological differences, the human induced activities and their impact are astoundingly similar. [See the report bellow] 

The 23 participants discussed issues of common interests with emphasis in integrated ecosystem approaches, projects to be undertaken in the near term, and prepare for the plenary presentation of the Wetlands Management and Collaboration Panel programmed for the Dialogue conference.  

 

As part of the workshop, the participants identified seven (7) areas of possible collaboration, and three (3) of them were chosen to discuss specific actions to be pursued in the next 12 to 18 months.  (To see the report, please visit EPI Publications) Among them there was: A Systematic Comparison of the Pantanal and Everglades Ecosystems.

The purpose of this report is:

1. To assist the people who are working in one of these systems to better understand the other system, as a basis for establishing effective cooperative programs between the two systems.  While it is widely recognized that the Pantanal and Everglades are two of the largest and most famous of the tropical/subtropical wetland ecosystems in the Americas, it is also recognized that there are both similarities and dissimilarities between these systems.  There is a potential for considerable shared benefits to the people working in the Everglades and Pantanal if communication and cooperative programs can be established for those issues, features and tasks that are common to both systems.  This report will become a catalyst to the establishment of cooperative efforts by identifying these areas of common interest;

2. To assist people world-wide to better understand the characteristics and problems of these two tropical/subtropical wetland ecosystems.

Those who would like to contribute to this report, please see the Report Summary at EPI 2002 report (in EPI Publications section) to identify which is your field of interest and Contact Us. We will put in you in contact with your partner in Pantanal, for you starting developing a proposal to  make it feasible.

Reports already made

Some Field Trip Reports are been prepared by some EPI members and will be available soon, with descriptions and pictures of Pantanal and Everglades features, as a way to encourage you to get involved. 

 

Some of the documents below are provided in PDF format. To display them, you need to use Acrobat Reader. To get your free Acrobat Reader client software, click on the following bottom.

First Case Study, Dialogue 1 - October 1993

The Brazilian Pantanal and Florida Everglades: A Comparison of Ecosystems, Uses and Management, in Proceedings of the Second Pantanal Symposium, Corumbá, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. Jeff Wade. (November 18-22, 1996), by Jeffry S. Wade, Director, Environmental Studies Division, Center for Governmental Responsibility, University of Florida College of Law, Gainesville, FL, USA.