Upper Paraguay River Basin Floodplain

The Pantanal Gets an Integrated Conservation GIS	Pilot Project Begins	Comparing Data
Story of Success	Upper Paraguay River Basin

A Solution Takes Hold

Following a May 1999 GIS seminar presented by DU and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service (USFS) in Costa Rica, several delegates from Brazil, Paraguay, and Bolivia approached DU with interest for a Pantanal project. Subsequent conversations with government and nongovernment organization staff revealed that a comprehensive, trinational GIS database was the solution.

DU, with more than 20 years of experience using GIS for wetland conservation and management, took the lead as facilitator and technical advisor, and the USFS provided initial funding for the project.

The first milestone meeting was held in April 2000, in Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, with more than 50 participants from Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia, the U.S. Agency for International Development (AID), U.S. Department of State, and USFS. The objectives of the new integrated conservation GIS were established, and specific end determined.

The technical work plan, assembled and managed by DU with the aid of a discussion list server (pantanalGIS@egroups.com), began to take shape, outlining issues and tasks related to the guidelines and standards for the GIS, local land use and conservation priorities, key data sets, metadata standards, land use/land cover scheme and accuracy levels, and data storage and retrieval infrastructure.

Because of the expense and long-term nature of the project, participants agreed to work in a smaller area first. An area south of Corumbá (Nabileque/Otuquis/Rio Negro region) covering portions of all three countries was selected.

"The biodiversity of the region is extremely high, but so is the area's economic resources," said Dick Kempka, DU's director of GIS. "Helping administrators and decision makers see the importance of the Pantanal GIS to their planning and conservation efforts and gaining their long-term support were vital to initiate the pilot study."

The Pantanal Gets an Integrated Conservation GIS	Pilot Project Begins	Comparing Data
Story of Success	Upper Paraguay River Basin

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Update: February 4, 2002