The swamp biome covers an area of 150,355 km2, more than 1% of Brazil’s territory, and consists mainly of flooded savanna steppe. The Pantanal is only in two Brazilian states, Mato Grosso, where it occupies 7% of the territory, and Mato Grosso do Sul, where it occupies 25%. The region is an alluvial plain influenced by rivers that drain to the Upper Paraguay River Basin, where there are flora and fauna of rare beauty and abundance.

It also has predominantly sandy soils (hydromorphic Pdzól), covered with native foliage. The biome contains about three million beef cattle, raised on large estates which exploit the land. Farming has been the main economic activity here for over 200 years. This traditional system of exploitation has led to external impacts that threaten biodiversity and, thus put the sustainability of ecosystems in this vast plain at great risk.