The major original cattle ranchers moved to the Pantanal in the early 20th century.

 

The extensive savannahs of the Pantanal proved to be the ideal place for breeding and fattening the hardy Nelore breed of cattle which came from India.

In the 1950s, the Pantanal was the principal meat supply region for Brazil. This activity was probably a good thing to happen as the early settlers allowed the cattle to roam freely on the natural grasslands of the vast savannah plains without having the need to modify its natural formations.

The cowboys preferred diet has always been beef, and besides hunting the occasional feral pig and eating the occasional fish , they stayaway from the wildlife. So one could say it is a good partnership for environmental preservation.

 

However, we must not ignore the fact that the sizes of the ranch holdings reduced drastically through the natural inheritance process and farms have become too small to be lucrative with cattle ranching. This has forced farmers to increase and/or improve their pastures, sell their land or diversify into other activities such as eco tourism. When we acquired our land, our main objective was to preserve the wildlife that it contained, but to maintain the traditional activity of cattle ranching in a sustainable way.

The people that we employ were brought up in this activity, and are very knowledgeable and sensitive to the preservation of nature that is found in the Pantanal. Adauto, who works for us and is very knowledgeable about the local fauna and flora, says, “I am a worm of this soil!” We are also showing that with the activity of sustainable eco-tourism, these people who work for us can improve their standard of living without having to leave the area they love so much.