One of the most beautiful regions of Pantanal is Amolar Mountain Range, an outcrop that is a natural barrier. Located in the Western part of the Brazilian Pantanal at the border with Bolivia, the range extends to the north of the city of Corumbá, in the State of Mato Grosso do Sul. The landscape of Amolar Mountain Range creates one of the most beautiful views. It functions as a natural barrier for the waters which come from the upper lands, forming a large flooded area: large lagoons and bays that allows a high biodiversity level, with many fish species. 

Being around 80km long, Amolar Mountain Range is recognized as an area of “High Priority for Preservation”.   It is part of the Biosphere Reserve of the Pantanal, a title awarded by Unesco in 2000.

Amolar has heights that vary from 300 to 1,065 meters above sea level. It features a highly diversified ecosystem with vegetation types which represent the Amazon, Cerrado, and Bosque Seco Chiquitano (tropical dry forest) biomas.

One of its amazing features are the “relicts of caatinga”, a record of vegetation formations similar to the original caatinga vegetation, which domain in the region when a drier climate prevailed   (semiarid climate). Those remains can be understood as “real living museums”, which had been installed at the Pantanal and at the surrounding ranges, between 13 to 23 thousand years ago.
Endangered species are found at the area, such as Giant Armadillo (Periodontal maximums), Painted Ounce (Panthera onca), Giant Anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla), and Giant Otter (Pteronura brasiliensis).

Several families live in this unique region of natural, historical and cultural resources. They adapted themselves to the natural cycle of high and low waters, and, until now they make their living from the environment. 

The region is inhabited by Guató indigenous people and by riverine families, that depend basically on subsistence fishery, on the commercialization of live baits for fishing tourists [tuviras (Gymnotus carapo), mussuns (Synbranchus marmoratus) and crabs (Dilocarcinus paguei paguei)].

Social exclusion caused by physical and logistic distance from urban areas, lack of local policies, communication facilities and of economic prospects puts those families as one of the most vulnerable groups of the Pantanal. Every year, during the flooding period, those families become isolated and their houses are covered by water. The difficulty of having medical assistance worsens diseases, which under normal conditions, could be easily prevented. Also, lack of schools forces young people to leave the region and search for better opportunities elsewhere.

Considering the urgency to reverse this scenario, Ecoa has been acting in the region for the last ten years. Ecoa works with direct interventions, through studies, capacity building, CSO strengthening and promotion of public policies. Also, Ecoa develops key partnerships with public and research sectors, in order to protect the region and to  improve life quality of the local people from the Amolar Range and surroundings. 

This work is developed from an integral approach, which takes into account the region’s social, economic, cultural and environmental aspects. Its methodology had been developed by Ecoa and it is known as Integral Development of Local Communities.
 
An important landmark in this process was the establishment, in 2004, of the Support Center for Environmental Protection and sustainable development of the Amolar. The Center intensifies participative approach with local inhabitants and promotes actions regarding integration, research and promotion of life quality.

An intensive work on communication and multisectorial dialogues was triggered, resulting on higher sensitization and attraction of key-actors and agencies in the search of joint solutions for the region.
 
Significant positive changes were obtained from the application of the Integral Development methodology to the Amolar communities. Among them, we can highlight:

In social scope

• Local empowerment, with creation of local association and the improvement of communities’ organizational capacity. 
  
• Increase of essential services and of governmental sectors.
• Establishment of a rural school with 76 students.
• Health care assistance. 
• Changes of family habits, through the adoption of hygiene and desease prevention practices.
  

Strengthened environmental protection

• Formation of a fire brigade with local agents has reduced criminal fires and tensions between environmental protection agencies and communities.
• Introduction of practices that promote the rational use of fishing resources. 
• Formation of environmental agents and increase of awareness policies regarding the environment and its preservation. 
• Enlargement of scientific knowledge on the region’s ecology, fauna and flora.