SouthWild’s Green Dream
Why We Showcase Jaguars
A crusade to save the Pantanal and the Amazon…
Wild Jaguar, SouthWild Jaguar Flotel, Pantanal, Central Western Brazil.
Photography: Cheryl Connolly. Jaguars of Brazil’s Pantanal.
By Dr. Charles A. Munn, Founder, SouthWild
SouthWild is not just a tour company, but a crusade to save the Pantanal and the Amazon, just to the north. Since the Amazon is the size of the United States and 77% of its rainforest is still standing, there is a lot to protect. Even though more than 50% of the standing forest is in biological and indigenous reserves, more active protection is required, much of which can come from properly-executed ecotourism.
We will use our success in Pantanal Jaguar tourism to launch scientifically-designed ecolodges in the Brazilian Amazon that will offer peak wildlife experiences to nature travelers and, in so doing, will guard vast swaths of the world’s greatest rainforest. Currently, no such lodges exist in Brazil.
With the proper understanding of the target wildlife species, our team of biologists can produce wildlife experiences that will satisfy demanding travelers. We have done so in surrounding countries for two decades, creating 15 million acres of new rainforest reserves in Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia, along with a half dozen of what the international press has called the finest Amazon lodges.
Even a single, properly-sited lodge on a river that flows out of an Amazonian reserve can protect up to a million acres or more of rainforest lying upstream. The benefits of such lodges are immense. In Peru, for example, the Tambopata reserve now attracts 80,000 international visitors a year, making ecotourism the highest and best use of the land. By creating attractive economic alternatives to burning the rainforest for agriculture, not only can the forest be saved, but greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced, slowing climate change.
We have found that those who visit us in the Pantanal also would like have an extreme wildlife adventure in the Amazon while they are already so close to the greatest wilderness on Earth. Our success in the Pantanal will allow us to create improved conservation tourism in the Brazilian rainforest.
Conservation through ecotourism is the essence of our green dream, and we are making great progress, in large part thanks to your visits and your help. By coming to see the Pantanal with us, you will help us change the future of the Pantanal and the Amazon. A few years from now, you will be able to visit new, wildlife-rich sites. Welcome to the crusade – it’s going to be fun.
“Dreaming of that next epic wildlife adventure? Here are your go-to guys.”
–Condé Nast Traveller
Arcana Mundi Expeditions
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