Visitors to Brazil's Pantanal can still spot a 220-pound jaguar or a giant capybara, but the famed wetland is at risk of being destroyed by encroaching farms and industry.
Larger than all of England, the landlocked Pantanal basin in southwestern Brazil is the world's largest wetland.
According to The Nature Conservancy, the Pantanal harbors the greatest concentration of fauna in the Americas.
It is also one of the largest sources of fresh water in South America.
But the idyllic scenery is deceiving. Just meters away from the ecological refuge, a large herd of cattle roams freely through the swamp, stomping on floating lily pads.
Cattle ranchers chop down trees and sow pasture land, causing most of the Pantanal's destruction, environmentalists say.
The Pantanal's destruction could affect millions of people as far downstream as Asuncion and Buenos Aires.
(SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) COORDINATOR OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL NGO ECOA, ALLESANDRO MENEZES
"Today, Pantanal's greatest risk is deforestation. Deforestation does not occur necessarily on the Pantanal plateau, which the most important area, but it occurs on the borders and the borders are crucial for the Pantanal's existence, because it's from the border areas that flow the rivers that feed the Paraguay river."
(SOUNDBITE) (English) TOURIST ALKIS IEROMONACHOU
