Changing the fate of big cats in the Pantanal with Caiman

Written by Rebecca Woolford, Senderos

The Pantanal. Home to one of the highest concentrations of wildlife in South America and the world’s greatest density of jaguars. It’s also known as ranching country…

Approximately 95% of the land is privately owned for the purpose of agriculture. Herds of cattle, farmers, and cowboys on horseback have dominated these lands for over 300 years. 

So when Roberto Klabin (see below) first started his pioneering conservation project, he faced the strong belief that ‘a good jaguar was a dead jaguar’ amongst local communities. 

Even today, conflicts with cattle ranchers remain one of the BIGGEST THREATS to wild jaguars in the Pantanal. At the top of the food chain, this big cat is seen as the enemy when it wanders onto farm land. 

However, Ecotourism has since emerged as an alternative income generator, one that places value on the jaguars. In fact, a 2017 study found that ecotourism generated 6.8 million dollars in gross annual income in northern Pantanal, compared with just over 120 thousand dollars in losses from cattle.

In this interview with Roberto Klabin, founder of Caiman, we’ll uncover a world-famous conservation project that’s featured on Planet Earth 3 and his incredible blueprint for ecotourism that has fundamentally changed the fate of jaguars in the Pantanal. 

*Even the fire which passed through the ranch recently has not affected Roberto’s mission to revitalise the Pantanal for the benefit of wildlife and biodiversity. Caiman’s mission is to restore, regenerate, and build even greater resilience into this wetland landscape. (Find out more at the bottom)

 

What inspired the vision for Caiman and how did it come into being?

“I’ve been fighting to safeguard and protect nature for most of my adult life. 

In 1976, in college, I was active in the environmental struggle. Around the same time as the dictatorship in Brazil, I helped set-up several NGOs, one of which was called SOS Atlantic Forest, where I was the president for 23 years. Following that I was the president of SOS Pantanal for nearly a decade.

My story in the Pantanal began in 1984 when my family decided to divide the ranch up. This ranch was originally founded by British investors in 1912, my family then acquired it in 1950. This ranch was huge, it’s like a small country. Across 600,000 acres of land my family had different and conflicting ideas of how to manage it – so we decided to divide it all up. 

I remember saying to myself, whatever part I get, I will try to create a private reserve that will protect and preserve the forest I had experienced and fallen in love with at 10 years of age. 

It was sheer luck that my name was picked at random for the main section of the ranch. I’d essentially been given this large area and I knew that I’d approach it in a completely different way to my ancestors and family who saw it only as a place to raise cattle. 

Amongst the local people the biodiversity was not valued and the relationship between wildlife and farmers was, in a word, complicated. 

I later acquired a little bit more land from my uncle, and from my brother to create what Caiman is today, a refuge for wildlife and an accommodation which welcomes guests. It’s 53,000 hectares, approximately 130,000 acres which is around one fifth of the previous ranch. 

Inspired by many trips to Africa, especially South Africa, I learnt so much from the nature guides like how best to engage guests with wildlife, conservation and science. I returned to Caiman and decided to become a pioneer in ecotourism in Brazil. 

With the help of the University of São Paulo a number of scientists came over to visit and I said to them: ‘I want to protect this area, at least 10 % of the area. How best can I create an untouched area inside the 53,000 hectares, a place where cattle would have no access and only researchers could get in? It is essential that there would be no cattle inside the reserve.’ And so these scientists studied the flora and fauna for a number of years.

We previously had dogs in the ranch. 20 years ago I decided that the best thing for the jaguars and the wildlife was to remove all the pets. It completely changed the way that the fauna related to us, they became more relaxed and that only increased the success of our wildlife encounters which supported our ecotourism business.”

 

Such an ambitious project which went against the grain in every sense, what are some of the challenges you had to overcome and possibly still face today? 

“Challenges are easier to overcome when you have great people around you. My friend and neighbour Teresa is an example of that. 

We needed to create a biological corridor that linked Caiman to some of the other properties in the Pantanal but I was unable to develop it until a friend of mine Teresa, a fantastic woman, bought a ranch that is almost adjacent to Caiman. In between her ranch and my ranch, there was another ranch that previously belonged to another woman who wanted to sell it to a typical cattle rancher. My friend said to me ‘I’m going buy that ranch between us because I don’t want this lady to sell it to ‘that rancher’ who will only turn it into pasture land for cattle.’ So, when she finally bought it through raising funds she created this incredible link, an essential biological corridor between Caiman and her ranch. Adding Caiman and my friend’s ranch together plus the new acquired ranch we’re talking about almost 120,000 hectares of land with the sole objective of creating a private reserve. 

It wasn’t easy, some neighbours only saw our plans to restore, protect and preserve the Pantanal in a negative light. I was accused of breeding jaguars on the property who’d then later prey on the ranchers’ cattle and create problems. I’d respond to the naysayers saying “look guys, the fact is that this place belonged to the jaguars long before we were here.”

It’s hard because most people, even today, still regard jaguars as enemies. They can prey on cattle, and then those farmers resort to shooting these big cats that are essential to the ecosystem. 

Cattle ranching has been here for over 300 years, the cattle arrived initially to feed the miners after gold was discovered in the northern Pantanal at the end of the 17th century. The cattle have completely transformed this environment, an astonishing 95% of the Pantanal is privately owned, just 5% is left for nature.

Jaguars have been known to eat cattle on my ranch, equally we only lose around 3 % of the whole herd each year, and those same jaguars pay the bill many times over through ecotourism. 

I appreciate that this isn’t the same situation for ranch owners that don’t welcome tourists to their properties. That’s why we are trying to help the government to devise a programme to compensate farmers who lose their cattle by jaguars or other predators. But it’s complicated because the government does not appreciate the urgency and need for it. Unless the government starts a compensation program, I don’t see how we can solve this conflict between the farmers and the jaguars beyond our reserve.

The mission at Caiman sits within three key pillars. The 1st pillar is livestock. It’s important to continue cattle ranching as it’s very important economically to this region. The 2nd pillar is research, we developed conservation and rewilding projects that enabled scientists to study the wildlife in the Pantanal. The third and final pillar is wildlife observation tourism. I wanted to develop wildlife observation tours utilising the legacy infrastructure from the ranch, so I converted my family mansion, which I won when the former area was divided amongst us, into an eco-lodge in the beginning.”

Being a catalyst to such change in the Pantanal, was there anything that surprised you, were there outcomes that you didn’t expect? 

“When I first came up with the idea of creating a wildlife observation and ecotourism property in the Pantanal people called me ‘crazy’. I was accused of destroying the culture of the place. By introducing tourism, people said I would bring visitors with no connections, no ties to the culture, and these guests were going to disrupt everything. 

What happened was that instead of destroying the culture, we actually started to see it develop in a much better way. Here’s why… 

Across all the ranches in the Pantanal they traditionally only hired men and women would be at home or in the kitchen. But when I created the lodge, I wanted to give opportunities to local women, in fact most positions were given to women, and to their families. I had the men working at the ranch, women working at the eco-lodge, and other family members. Creating equal opportunities and giving women the ability to step outside of their traditional roles was a positive outcome I didn’t foresee in the beginning. 

The team of people at Caiman are proud to share their heritage and traditions with visitors, and this helps keep culture alive. 

I also witnessed people’s perception and behaviour towards wildlife change. Before, people in the Pantanal were indifferent to wildlife or even a little bit aggressive towards it. But now, that’s changed in this region. Why? Because people see that their livelihoods and jobs depend on the success of this reserve and the incredible wildlife that lives here. It was a win-win.”

A report from the North Pantanal concluded that Jaguars cost $56,000 a year in lost cattle, but bring in $3 million a year in tourism. If those numbers are correct, why is the government not taking more action to protect and safeguard the jaguars?

“Well, because the government wants you, me, us, as private beings to do the work instead of them, and as a public entity they don’t want to bear the cost. For them, conservation and protecting jaguars is a very small issue. They are investing in infrastructure, and development and they have no idea about what biodiversity is and why it’s important. 

Brazil in the last ten years has been receiving around 6 million international tourists a year. That’s less than the Eiffel tower in Paris each year and Brazil is bigger than the United States without Alaska. Those numbers are shameful if you consider the difference in size.

The Brazilian government needs to take more notice of tourism, they do not yet understand how tourists coming to visit could benefit the economy. We’ve had a series of governments that have never really understood the value of tourism. 

Sensationalism in the press doesn’t help. If something happens in a big city like Rio or Sao Paulo, and a tourist is the victim of a crime then people perceive the whole of Brazil to be dangerous. There is crime in London and Paris but people still visit them. 

The Pantanal is just a little piece of Brazil, and it’s one of the best places in the world to see jaguars, but it’s not something the governments invest in or pay attention to.

If you asked me, is tourism the solution for the Pantanal and the jaguars? I would love to say yes. It certainly has the potential to be, but not enough ranch owners are interested in developing ecotourism, because it’s complicated. First of all, you have to attract guests to visit, you need to invest in training and staff, and you need to have land that hasn’t completely extinguished its wildlife, but has retained some of the biodiversity. Investing in conservation, rewilding, developing products and promoting them is not easy.”

 

Most people have heard of carbon credits, also known as carbon allowances, which work like permission slips for emissions, but few have heard of biodiversity credits. What can you tell us about it?

“Firstly, it’s much more difficult to measure the unit of biodiversity credit than of carbon credit, it’s much more complicated. 

There’s an organisation in Brazil called LIFE that has been working with biodiversity credits for the last 15 years. Their purpose is to integrate biodiversity conservation into business models to maintain the ecosystem services that guarantee the functionality of business operations, the planet and society.

The talented team at LIFE have finally reached an understanding of how one can measure a biodiversity credit. The positive balance has a tradable value in the market. 

We’ve gone through a certification at LIFE and we’ve received about 470,000 points. We are now at the point of asking ourselves: what is the price of each credit? For comparison, carbon credits in Brazil can go up to $15 per unit I think, but in biodiversity we still don’t know. 

We have an upcoming conference on biodiversity in Colombia in November this year, and we hope to advance our understanding of biodiversity credits.

Once we better understand the ‘value of a credit’ and how to communicate it, I have another very exciting way to explain to my neighbours and to the government what the value of biodiversity is at Caiman and in the Pantanal, all in a language they speak. Money.

I went to a conference in the Pantanal last week where some huge companies, including large oil and mining companies in Brazil, one of which is the biggest company in Brazil. 

What most people don’t know is that these companies own wildlife reserves, and they don’t know what to do with them.They’re asking questions like how can they extract more value from this land? How can they interest people in these spaces? How can they engage their company directors in the value of biodiversity? 

Biodiversity credits are slowly starting to be understood by these large companies, although it’s nowhere near fast enough considering the urgency of the matter, because without biodiversity, there is no climate, and both feed into each other.” 

What is the legacy you hope to leave behind and what are your hopes for Caiman, and the jaguars across the next 50 years and beyond? 

“I’m glad you’ve asked me as I’m working on this as we speak. I’m planning to separate one third of the ranch across the 53 ,000 hectares here, so that’s around 18,000 hectares. 

This land will be donated to an institution that my wife and I created as our legacy. This institution is separate from Caiman. It will no longer belong to my family, it will belong to this institution. Inside this area I will bring together all the scientific projects and it will be a knowledge centre.

I want my legacy to be one that positively influences the way people think about the Pantanal and the wildlife here.”

 

Not just an eco-lodge, but an organic farm, a Jaguar research station, a base for science, Caiman lies at the intersection between ecotourism, science and conservation. What do you say to people who feel guilty about flying to far flung destinations like Brazil?

“I would say that whenever I see people advising people not to travel, to stop flying, I think it’s totally wrong, especially in countries like Brazil that are so biodiversity rich. Travel is both a privilege and responsibility. 

By not visiting these biodiverse countries they will struggle to survive. If people take an interest in National Parks what follows is that governments take an interest and they remain protected. 

We need to visit biodiverse places like Brazil, Papua New Guinea and Africa, these are my personal favourites. When I visit I spend my money wisely and vote with my wallet. By visiting these places I know I’m bringing money to those communities. Visitors to countries through tourism help governments to understand the value of a place. Not just for extraction.”

What’s next for Caiman? 

“I always have lots of ideas. I’m also turning 69 soon and time is precious. The Pantanal in Brazil has changed my life, it gave it meaning, not only for me, but for my entire family. It’s a place that we deeply love, and that we continue to work to protect.

People often come to me and say, Roberto, you’ve done such great work at Caiman, why don’t you open some more lodges? I always respond ‘absolutely not’. I want to be the best in the Pantanal, I want to focus the time I have left on this earth here. 

53,000 hectares of land is almost like the size of Singapore, which is about 700 square kilometres. I have 530 square kilometres at Caiman. It’s like owning a Singapore with no people living inside. Imagine the responsibility of owning and managing an area of that magnitude. Only in Brazil can you still have land as large as this. 

This is a lifetime project, and my enthusiasm remains strong. Ultimately, I want Caiman to be a beacon of hope and knowledge in Brazil, it will become a knowledge centre of the biomes in the Pantanal.”

Caiman has suffered from intense fires on their farm and reserve in recent months. 80% of their area has been affected, which includes the loss of two wildlife enclosures, a lot of wildlife habitat and at least two jaguars, including Gaia, one that was particularly close to the team’s hearts. According to Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research, ‘the area has seen more than 2,500 fires since the start of 2024, a catastrophic 1,776% increase on the same period in 2023, just as the dry season is beginning’.

“Human-caused climate change made the conditions that drove the blazes about 40% more intense and four to five times more likely and the Pantanal has also lost about 80% of its surface water since 1985, more than any other Brazilian biome.” The Week

The Caiman staff, guides and the teams of scientists based at Caiman who work for the NGO’s Onçafari (Jaguar and Tapir projects), Arara Azul (Hyacinth Macaw Project) and currently also the Instituto Tamandua (Anteater project) are working hard to rescue and recuperate as much as possible, including setting up feeding and veterinary stations for the animals, among their many other urgent and vital initiatives. 

Funds will be used to rebuild enclosures, provide veterinary care, feed animals, install water wells, and support firefighters.

Fortunately, the facilities of Casa Caiman were not affected. The fires did not reach the lodge, neither the internal areas, the 18 suites, the restaurant, the sauna, and the gym; nor the external leisure areas, like the outdoor lounge and the swimming pool. Caiman are still able to offer the same comfort as ever to their guests, and the same memorable experiences.

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