Culture and Sustainable Development in Mata-Grossoan Pantanal: Between Tradition and Modernity

Despite being occupied by different social groups over hundreds of years, some parts of rural areas of Mato-Grosso wetlands still preserve a part of their natural characteristics. Cattle raising, the main economic activity, was developed without really changing the basic (pattern) landscapes, & related to it the image of their inhabitants is mentioned as an example of sustainable use of natural elements. Despite this positive stereotype, little is still known concerning such knowledge, which often gets lost or takes other forms due to modernity. The present text is inserted in such perspective, its main objective is to research on Pantanal knowing, which resulted in peculiar forms of mark-landscapes organization & in specific aspects of material culture. The conclusion is that with modernization & transformations on material culture, particularly the substitution of native grass by exotic ones, the balance of pattern landscapes is under threat. The cultural sustainability, understood as an open system, subject to transformations, is an indicator of great relevance to the searching of sustainable development. 30 References. Adapted from the source document.