Brazilian cowboy to discuss wildlife, nature tourism in the Pantanal and rainforests of southern Brazil. The Earth Day presentation will use wildlife photos to highlight how nature tourism on private lands is preserving local lands and culture.

Eduardo Falcao, 34, stepped on his first elevator last year. With some assistance, on April 22, the rainforest native will give his first Power Point presentation on how his family is supplementing their income from raising cattle by conducting nature tours on their land in the Pantanal where income is around $160 per month.

Eduardo is a Pantaneiro, born and raised in the Pantanal, the worlds largest wetland. The non-profit Focus Conservation Fund has helped train Eduardo and has given him the tools to begin guiding tours in an area rich in biological diversity. He is an expert on wildlife and speaks English well.

Among spectacular photos of snakes, birds and mammals of the Pantanal, Eduardo will discuss how nature tourism is helping to keep land in its natural state and is preserving the way of the Pantaneiro. A considerable effort is being undertaken to make tourism an ally in biodiversity conservation. In Brazil, almost none of the profit ends up in the hands of the people that live in or near and ultimately control the biodiversity that tourists go to see. Eduardo will show how his tourism work with Focus Tours is helping to reverse this equation by training local people and giving them grants for and ownership in lodges and tourism accommodations.

The hope is for Pantaneiros to continue earning a fair living and protecting wildlife habitat in the Pantanal where large-scale commercial cattle ranches are threatening to destroy the region. The presentation is being sponsored by Delmarva Low-Impact Tourism Experiences (DLITE) which is promoting low-impact nature tourism on the shore. The Coastal Bays Program is facilitating the event.

Located on Brazil's border with Bolivia, the Pantanal consumes 55,000 square miles. Blanketing the middle of the continent, the lowland plains are characterized by pronounced wet and dry seasons. Habitats range from semi-deciduous and evergreen forests to palm woodlands and true pantanal (seasonally flooded grasslands with scattered clumps of cerrado scrub on elevated patches of land). Thousands of lakes and rivers dot and cross the region, constantly cleansing and renewing the wetlands.

The Pantanal is considered the easiest place to see a wide variety of tropical animals on the South American continent. Open areas facilitate the spotting of giant anteater, capybara, black-and-gold howler, yellow anaconda and jaguar. Here, the giant subspecies, Panthera onca palustris (weighing over 350 pounds), dwarfs its Amazonian form.

While the mammals are impressive, it is the amazing abundance of birds that gives the Pantanal its fame. It is a destination of three major South American migratory routes. Jabiru storks, roseate spoonbills, four species of kingfishers, and numerous kites and hawk make the region a bird watchers paradise. Some of the specialties include Hyacinth macaws, toco toucans, plumbeous Ibis, scarlet-headed Blackbirds, chaco chachalaca, bare-faced curassow, and chestnut-bellied guan.