BRAZIL

That the Hydrovia
waterways project, linking
Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia,
Uruguay and Argentina,
could spell doom for the
Pantanal - the largest * wetlands in the world - in
Brazil is well understood.
What is surprising is that it is
being backed wholeheartedly
by politicians, businesspersons and farmers alike.

Warns Katherine Fuller,
president of the World Wild
Fund for Nature (WWF), that
the Hydrovia, scheduled to
begin operation in 1997,
would lead to gradual desertification of the region with
the water level falling by 25
cm. "Entire species of fish
and birds would 'die and
massive flooding down river
would put people and buildings at risk," she adds. The
Pantanal extends to 13,925
ha and is home to jaguars,
giant ant-eaters, marsh deer,
giant otters, toucans, rare
hyacinth macaws and a host
of other wildlife species. WWF
would like the waterway to
begin below the Pantanal.
But adamant Bolivian,
Paraguayan and Brazilian
officials are against it. "The
benefits far outweigh the
ecological costs," says Jose
Martinez, a senior official
at Paraguay's embassy in
Brazil.