The Pantanal is one of the largest continuous wetland areas on the planet, covering around 160,000 km² of low-altitude floodplains in the upper part of the Paraguay River and tributaries, in the center of the South American continent. The vegetation is influenced by four biomes: Amazon Forest, Cerrado (predominant), Chaco and Atlantic Forest. Summer (November-March) is hot and rainy, while winter (April-October) has relatively lower temperatures and dry periods. The main ecological factor that determines the processes and patterns of the Pantanal are flood pulses, which follow an annual, monomodal cycle, with an amplitude of 2 to 5 meters and a duration of 3 to 6 months. The Pantanal is also subject to variations in flood intensity, alternating between years of intense flooding and drier years.

The different sedimentation patterns of the Paraguay River and its tributaries caused by the alternation between wet and dry periods led to the mosaic of geomorphological formations found in the Pantanal. This complex mosaic of habitats, soil types and flooding regimes is responsible for the wide variety of plant formations and diverse landscapes, creating the necessary conditions for a rich terrestrial and aquatic biota. 16 classes of vegetation (phytophysiognomies) were identified in the Pantanal, the most important being grasses (31%), cerradão (22%), cerrado (14%), swamps and flooded areas (7%), semi-deciduous forest ( 4%), and gallery forest (2.4%).

The region is distinguished by its extraordinary concentration and abundance of wildlife. At a national level, the Pantanal is recognized as “National Heritage” by the Brazilian Constitution of 1988, while at an international level this biome has already been recognized by a series of conventions such as Ramsar, Convention on Biological Diversity, United Nations Climate Change Convention , Convention on Migratory Species and the World Heritage Convention. Currently, there are a total of 360,000 hectares under some category of protection, corresponding to just 2.6% of the Brazilian Pantanal.

Historically, the Pantanal has never received much attention from the national governments of Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay, the three countries in which this biome is located. However, during the last decades, the expansion of agricultural frontiers and economic and political changes have placed the region at the forefront of developmental discussions and planning. The governments of the three countries have made great efforts to include the Pantanal region in their respective national economic development programs, which is particularly evident in Brazil, which holds around 85% of the Pantanal area. In the mid-1970s, the Brazilian government began a series of major development programs for the Pantanal, aimed at intensifying the use of the region's natural resources and integrating it into the country's national development plan, especially through construction of roads and electricity transmission networks. Since then, nine hydroelectric plants with a total capacity of 323MW have been built in the Pantanal, the project to establish the Bolivia-Brazil gas pipeline crossing the Pantanal from Corumbá to Campo Grande continues to progress; and there is enormous pressure to change the course and channel the Paraguay River in order to facilitate the river transport of grains and ores to the Atlantic Ocean (Paraguay-Paraná waterway). Indiscriminate development and disorderly use of the region's natural resources can lead to large-scale and irreversible degradation, seriously affecting the living conditions of human populations and wildlife in the Pantanal.

Another major threat to the integrity of this biome is the fact that traditional low-intensity livestock farming methods are rapidly being replaced by more intense forms of livestock management. During the past two centuries, low-intensity livestock farming has been one of the main economic activities in the Pantanal. Due to the fact that this type of livestock management maintains the structure, function, biodiversity and beauty of the landscape, it has been considered a very sustainable method of using the Pantanal's natural resources. Currently, livestock farming continues to be the main economic activity in the region, with approximately 95% of the Pantanal being made up of private properties with an average size of 10,000 hectares. However, growing economic pressure has led traditional livestock farmers to increase the number of heads of cattle per unit area with the intention of increasing the efficiency of meat production and the economic return of the farms. As a result, what can be observed is the exhaustion of pastures and the conversion of natural pastures into artificial pastures through the introduction of exotic grasses (500,000 hectares of deforested areas during the last 25 years). In 2000, the total area of original vegetation that had already been replaced by exotic grasses was estimated at 12,200 km². As a consequence, these activities must have already affected around 40% of the forest and savannah habitats of the Brazilian Pantanal.

From 1996 to 2007, IPÊ developed a research and conservation program for the Brazilian Tapir in the Atlantic Forest of the Pontal do Paranapanema region, São Paulo. This program generated a huge database of information about the species.

In 2008, the team considered that the time had come to use this experience to expand its research and conservation initiatives for the species to other Brazilian biomes and the National Initiative for the Conservation of the Brazilian Tapir was established. The first “stop” was the Pantanal, where the threats and conservation issues for the species are quite diverse and where a long-term study on the Brazilian Tapir had never been carried out. The primary goal of the Tapir Pantanal Program is to obtain data on the demography, genetics and health of tapirs, as well as information on habitat use and the mosaic of natural fragments characteristic of many regions of the Pantanal, aiming to establish a long-term research and conservation program. term and support the formulation of recommendations for the conservation of the species in the region. After the Pantanal, we will take the necessary steps to establish similar programs in the Amazon and Cerrado biomes.

Research on the Brazilian Tapir has evolved significantly in recent years and a lot of information has been produced through research projects in several countries within its range. However, information obtained from different countries and different habitat types demonstrates that the tapir has very different ecological requirements in different areas. By establishing new research initiatives on the tapir in different Brazilian biomes, IPÊ hopes to create a comparative perspective for the conservation of the species, investigating its ecology in biomes other than the Atlantic Forest. With this, we will have a clearer understanding of these animals in different biomes, with different landscape matrices and under different levels of environmental disturbance. Thus, we will be able to better understand the ecology of these animals and their needs in terms of conservation, as well as assess the importance and magnitude of ecological factors affecting the different populations existing in the country. Finally, we will have all the necessary tools to promote the development and effective implementation of conservation and management strategies for specific lowland tapir populations throughout their distribution area.