Involving People in Science and Sustainability in the Pantanal Wetlands of Brazil - Restorative Redevelopment of Devastated Ecocultural Landscapes - page 203

but also have their own employees take part. As a result, employees from the Rio
Mining Company, Shell Oil, HSBC Bank, and Starbucks have all participated on
the Pantanal projects. Earth Watch believes that it is very important for corporate
employees to understand the relationship between science, the environment, and
their own corporate activities.
The goal in all these efforts is to foster a dialogue and build a constituency to be
able to manage the Pantanal in a different way than is currently happening (Chandler
2004). Managing watersheds involves managing people, and focusing on communi-
cation is critically important to fostering awareness and stewardship (France 2005,
2006). It may be some time before volunteers are able to work on restoring the envi-
ronment of Iraq, but there are certainly opportunities at the present time to begin
operations to bridge the gap between ongoing scientific field research and the many
vested and varied stakeholder interests. The Earth Watch model is available to be
able to make that happen, both from a capacity-building and from an empowerment
and information-sharing perspective. The benefits of adapting this model include
building viable connections through direct engagement in problem solving and man-
agement; developing greater contextual understanding of environmental problems
and potential solutions; sharing experiences across different sectors to build a com-
munity of mutual concerns and possible objectives; creating an opportunity for dia-
logue between scientists, local environmental managers, and community members;
enabling new ideas to emerge through cross-fertilization; and, finally, expanding the
belief horizons of all participants.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Adapted from Chandler (2004).
REFERENCES
Chandler, M. 2004. Role of volunteers in sustainability research in the Pantanal wetlands.
Paper presented at the Mesopotamian Marshes and Modern Development: Practical
Approaches for Sustaining Restored Ecological and Cultural Landscapes conference,
Cambridge, MA, October.
Earth Watch. 2008. www.earthwatch.org.
France, R. L. 2003. Deep immersion: The experience of water . Winnipeg, MB: Green
Frigate Books.
———. 2005. Facilitating watershed management: Fostering awareness and stewardship .
Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
———. 2006. Introduction to watershed development: Understanding and managing the
impacts of sprawl . Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
———. 2007a. A tale of two wetlands: The view from abroad. In Healing natures, repairing
relationships: New perspectives in restoring ecological spaces and consciousness , ed.
R. L. France. Winnipeg, MB: Green Frigate Books.
———. 2007b. Wetlands of mass destruction: Ancient presage for contemporary ecocide in
southern Iraq . Winnipeg, MB: Green Frigate Books.
France, R. L., and D. F. Fletcher. 2005. Watermarks: Imprinting water(shed) awareness through
environmental literature and art. In Facilitating watershed management: Fostering
awareness and stewardship , ed. R. L. France. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.