The uncertain future of Brazil’s Pantanal

The largest wetland in the world, Brazil’s Pantanal is under existential threat. A wave of fires that started three months ago has already destroyed 27 percent of the entire biome, equivalent to an area larger than Belgium. Beyond the drastic impact on the region’s flora and fauna, experts have warned that the Pantanal’s landscape and soil could now suffer irreversible changes — and local industry is set to pay its own price.

While having an abundance of water, fires are an annual occurrence in the Pantanal. This is a result of the accumulation of dry leaves and bushes during the low rainfall season in the middle of the year.

In 2020, however, an atypically long drought has made the biome even more susceptible to burning. Fires — predominantly started intentionally to clear areas for pasture — spread easily thanks to the high temperatures, winds, and low relative...