The Pantanal watershed, which drains into the Paraguay River, is also the home for 1.8 million people in the Brazilian states of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul. The Pantanal ecosystems and many of their species are facing increasing threats. The quality of the water entering the wetlands is carrying higher loads of sediment, as well as agrochemicals, industrial wastes, and domestic effluents. Fish populations are declining, and fishermen are maintaining the same harvest only by expending considerably greater effort. Only about 1 percent of the land in the Upper Paraguay Basin is presently under state or federal protection, versus the one-tenth recommended by international standards.
Local inhabitants are also under increasing pressure.
The small landholdings of indigenous people in the area are becoming degraded, hastening a process of cultural erosion. Likewise, the traditional Pantanal ranchers are beginning to abandon their land in part because environmental problems, such as increased flooding and drowning of cattle, are cutting into their profits. Additional problems are caused by recreational activities. Sport fishing in 1998 was responsible for landings of more than 86 percent of catch weight, a level that is not sustainable. Tourists disturb bird colonies, and motorboats produce noise and pollution as well as wave action that erodes narrow channels.