Emergy Evaluation of an Extensive Cattle Ranching System in Pantanal Watershed, Brazil

Emergy allows the sustainability of agricultural and livestock systems to be evaluated. This methodology was applied to analyze livestock systems on traditional farms located in the Pantanal Watershed in Brazil. The goals were to evaluate the sustainability of the system and to show the importance of the presence of native fauna and cattle in maintaining the region’s ecological quality. The results showed that the traditional livestock management in the Pantanal is composed of a high percentage of renewable resources, approximately 98% of the total emergy used. Cattle have the important function of controlling the fires in the region and thus cattle production preserves the local fauna and flora, which produce 7687 kg of biomass/ha/year. The value of this biomass was estimated by the emergy methodology to have a yearly value of US$ 367.80 per hectare of preserved landscape. Even though a large amount of renewable resources are used, thereby preserving the environment, the cost for maintaining this system is very expensive, mainly due to the cost of bringing materials into this isolated region.. Thus, alternatives must be discussed, such as certification seals for environmental preservation, to add value to these products, encouraging the continuation of this activity in the region and consequently preserving the ecological balance. INTRODUCTION The Pantanal is a tropical wetland and the world's largest wetland of any kind. It lies mostly within the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul but extends into Mato Grosso as well as into portions of Bolivia and Paraguay, sprawling over an area estimated at between 140,000 km 2 and 195,000 km 2 as shown in Figure 1. Various sub-regional ecosystems exist, each with distinct hydrological, geological and ecological characteristics. The region is influenced by rivers that drain the Alto Paraguai River and by four biomes: Amazon, Cerrado, Chaco and Atlantic Forest. The part of Pantanal located in Mato Grosso State is considered to be one of the best preserved ecosystems in Brazil, with the highest percentage of native vegetation (88.78%) and lowest area of human action (11.7%). According to Seidel et al. (2001), 95% of the region is private property of which 80% has been used for beef cattle for over 250 years. The beef cattle in the Pantanal are developed in breeding sites with extensive natural features of the management system guided by the flooding cycle (Pott et al., 1989). The objective of this study was to evaluate the traditional cattle ranching of the Pantanal in terms of sustainability through analysis using the emergy methodology.