Brazil is more than a single habitat. This is a country spoiled for natural wonders. And some of its greatest diversity is found in the Pantanal, the world’s biggest continental wetlands. At the heart of the South American continent, shared by Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay, is the Pantanal. Pantanal is the Portuguese word for ‘swamp’. It’s a world of water, untouched for millions of years. The name is as simple as the region is spectacular, recognized by UNESCO as a World Natural Heritage Site. Few places in the world are so colourful and so rich in wildlife. The cycle of high water and drought gives the Pantanal its annual rhythm. Every year the rains refill the basin. But what would happen if the rains stayed away? That became a cruel reality at the beginning of 2020. In the west of the region, in the Serra do Amolar, several fires broke out as the waters reached their highest point. There wasn’t nearly enough rain. High water was two meters below the point it should have reached. The top level of earth stayed dry. The fires burned well into November. Three thousand fires ravaged nearly a third of the Pantanal. Only a long and intense rainy season will protect this region, from another catastrophe and it happened. This paradise has only survived till now, because people and Nature have lived together in harmony. That is the secret of this watery world. And that is its hope, for the future. S.America. Dir. Almut Hauschild