Corredor Azul: Holding 3,400 km of Free-Flowing Wetland Together

The Paraná-Paraguay wetland system stretches 3,400 kilometres from the Brazilian Pantanal through Bolivia and Paraguay to the Paraná Delta in Argentina, one of the last large river corridors in the world that still flows unbarred. Fundación Humedales, the Latin America and Caribbean office of Wetlands International, launched the ten-year Corredor Azul programme in 2017 to keep that connectivity intact against soy and cattle expansion, dredging and channelisation projects, and the fires that repeatedly burn the delta. The programme works on three macrosystems — the Pantanal, the Esteros del Iberá and the Paraná Delta — combining management plans for large landscapes with support for fishing cooperatives, ecotourism associations and island ranchers. It now covers 40,080 productive hectares under improved livestock and forestry practices, has trained 955 managers in wetland conservation, and brings 3,800 people together through multi-sector dialogue platforms and the Humedales en Red civil society network.