Instituto SOS Pantanal

What Instituto SOS Pantanal does

Instituto SOS Pantanal, formally Instituto Socioambiental da Bacia do Alto Paraguai SOS Pantanal, is a Brazilian non-profit organization founded in August 2009 and headquartered in Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul. It is dedicated to the structural conservation of the Pantanal biome and the Alto Paraguai Basin, serving traditional and indigenous communities, Pantanal landowners, peer NGOs, federal and state government bodies, corporate funders, and the broader Brazilian and international public concerned with biome conservation. The organization is led by a board that includes former Mato Grosso do Sul Governor André Puccinelli and former Minister of Tourism Pedro Novais, with international relations figures such as Marcos Galvão among its ambassadors, supported by a core staff of approximately 13 employees.

The organization operates three core programmatic fronts. Brigadas Pantaneiras, launched in November 2020 following the catastrophic 2020 Pantanal fires, is a network of 27 to 66 rural fire prevention and combat brigades that monitored more than 800,000 hectares and is credited with a 57% reduction in burned area in participating municipalities between 2020 and 2023. Raízes do Pantanal, launched in December 2020, is an ecological restoration program for degraded areas and springs working with indigenous communities, having planted more than 8,000 seedlings and recovered at least five springs. Águas do Pantanal, launched in March 2023, adds water governance and quality monitoring through citizen science. The technological backbone is the Alerta Aracuã system, developed with technology partner Synergia Socioambiental, which ingests real-time heat focus data from NASA satellites and dispatches customized WhatsApp alerts to brigadiers and community members, paired with the Painel Aracuã dashboard that compares current hotspots to historical baselines dating to 2012. SOS Pantanal is also a co-founder of MapBiomas, a collaborative land cover mapping platform produced by a network of NGOs, universities, and technology companies organized by biomes.

Financially, SOS Pantanal operates as a donation-funded NGO without publicly disclosed revenue figures. Revenue streams include individual donations routed through the Colabore online platform, corporate partnerships with Bank of America, Fundação Toyota do Brasil, Klabin, Everest, and Documenta Pantanal, charitable events featuring artists such as Seu Jorge and Daniel Jobim (which generated approximately R$400,000 at a 2022 dinner and R$200,000 at a 2024 show), branded merchandise sales through an online store, and the "Adote uma Nascente" sponsorship program. The organization supplements programmatic fundraising with international advocacy, including panels at COP28 in Dubai and COP29 in Baku, an exhibition at the European Parliament in Brussels in partnership with the Environmental Justice Foundation in 2024, and the Mutirão COP30 initiative ahead of the Belém summit in 2025.

Name

Instituto SOS Pantanal

Legal name

Instituto Socioambiental da Bacia do Alto Paraguai SOS Pantanal

Website

https://sospantanal.org.br

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Instituto SOS Pantanal is a Brazilian non-profit founded in 2009 that conserves the Pantanal wetland biome through fire prevention brigades, ecological restoration, and water monitoring programs, serving traditional communities, indigenous peoples, corporate funders, and government partners across Mato Grosso do Sul.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Environmental Conservation Services

NAICS

Support Activities for Forestry (1153), Administration of Conservation Programs (92412)

SIC

Forestry (800)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYBPAGAGAF

Climate Change Mitigation & Adaptation

Business & Public Services/Nonprofit, NGO & Social Services/Environmental & Conservation Organizations

SECONDARYBPAGAGAD

Forestry & Reforestation

Business & Public Services/Nonprofit, NGO & Social Services/Environmental & Conservation Organizations

Keywords

• Wildfire prevention
• Ecological restoration
• Water monitoring
• Biome conservation
• Environmental policy advocacy

Headquarters

HQ city

Campo Grande

HQ country

Brazil

HQ region

Latin America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: Direct donations from individuals made through the Colabore platform. Donations are 100% destined to projects that make a difference in protecting the Pantanal.
2. Corporate Partnerships and Sponsorships: Support from companies including Everest (water purifiers), Bank of America, Documenta Pantanal, Fundação Toyota do Brasil, and Klabin. Companies can engage through project support and sponsorship, donations, cause marketing, and incentivized projects.
3. Beneficent Events: Fundraising through events like the annual beneficent dinner (Jantar Beneficente SOS Pantanal) and beneficent shows featuring artists like Seu Jorge and Daniel Jobim. The 2024 show raised R$200,000 for the Raízes do Pantanal program.
4. Merchandise Sales: Sale of products including t-shirts and fans featuring illustrations of Pantanal wildlife (anacondas, tuiuiú birds, jaguars) through the online shop at shop.sospantanal.org.br.
5. Adopt a Spring Program: Companies and individuals can adopt a spring in priority areas in the Alto Paraguai Basin, receiving a certificate with a QR Code to follow the project closely, promoting water security and maintenance of ecosystem services.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Instituto SOS Pantanal is a Brazilian nonprofit environmental conservation organization that operates the Brigadas Pantaneiras fire prevention and combat program (a network of trained rural fire brigades covering 800,000+ hectares), the Raízes do Pantanal ecological restoration program, and the Águas do Pantanal water governance and monitoring program, supported by proprietary satellite-based alert systems. The organization works through field presence with traditional communities, indigenous peoples, and landowners across the Pantanal biome.

Product overview

Instituto SOS Pantanal operates as a conservation NGO offering a portfolio of interconnected programs rather than a unified software product. The core offerings include three main programmatic fronts: (1) Brigadas Pantaneiras for fire prevention and combat using a network of trained brigades supported by technology tools Alerta Aracuã and Painel Aracuã for satellite-based fire detection and monitoring; (2) Raízes do Pantanal for ecological restoration of degraded areas; and (3) Águas do Pantanal for water governance and quality monitoring. Supporting these programs are technical publications, blog content, and fundraising events.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Brigadas Pantaneiras: Civil society program for fire prevention and combat in Pantanal, with network of rural fire brigades trained and equipped by the organization
• Raízes do Pantanal
• Águas do Pantanal
• Alerta Aracuã
• Painel Aracuã
• Águas que Falam

Quantifiable outcome

• 57% reduction in burned area comparing 2020 to 2023 fire seasons
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered major and core.

• Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Partnership for the 'Pantanal: Herança e Legado' (Heritage and Legacy) exhibition shown in Shopping Pátio Central in Campo Grande, at the European Union Embassy in Brasília, and at the European Parliament in Brussels. Jointly delivered the letter 'An Appeal to Global Climate Leaders: Protect Wetlands at COP30 and Beyond' to COP30 CEO.
• Chalana EsperançacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Partnership for the 'Águas que Falam' (Waters that Speak) project, developed together with SOS Mata Atlântica. The project involves water monitoring expeditions visiting riverside communities directly impacted by water changes, with the support of the wooden boat Chalana Esperança.
• Laboratório de Ecologia da Intervenção da UFMSmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Partnership for the restoration of degraded areas in Terra Indígena Cachoeirinha with the Terena indigenous people. The laboratory collaborated on seedling planting and other actions to recover areas with 3 springs.
• MapBiomascoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019SOS Pantanal is a co-founder of MapBiomas, a collaborative platform for land cover mapping of Brazil. This initiative from SEEG/OC (Greenhouse Gas Emission Estimates System of the Climate Observatory) is produced by a collaborative network of NGOs, universities, and technology companies organized by biomes and cross-cutting themes. SOS Pantanal contributed to the formation of this respected worldwide environmental analysis platform.
• SOS Mata AtlânticacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2016Partnership for the 'Águas que Falam' project which monitors water quality in rivers and watersheds that form the Pantanal. The project uses citizen science to involve communities in water monitoring.
• Documenta PantanalmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGreat partner that created the 'Artistas Pelo Pantanal' movement, which brought together 42 Brazilian artists who donated their works in a campaign to raise R$2 million for firefighting in the Pantanal. Also partnered on the COP30 campaign for wetlands.
• Synergia SocioambientalcoreTechnology or IntegrationLong-time partner that developed the Painel Aracuã (Aracuã Panel) system, a simplified and visual dashboard that uses technology and accurate data analysis to monitor fire hotspots in the Pantanal biome, helping to develop prevention and fire management strategies.
• Start-up RestauramajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTechnology partner for ecological restoration activities, working on the Raízes do Pantanal restoration program in Terra Indígena Cachoeirinha.

Scale indicators20 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Others

• Fundo Brasileiro para a Biodiversidade (FUNBIO): Brazilian biodiversity fund that channels donor and corporate capital to conservation projects including in the Pantanal. Comparable as an ecosystem participant in Brazilian conservation finance, though structurally a fund rather than a field operator.
• MapBiomas: Land-cover mapping platform co-founded by SOS Pantanal in 2019. Operationally adjacent — shares data infrastructure and institutional leadership — and provides a comparable model of collaborative, tech-enabled biome monitoring.

Direct peers

• Instituto Centro de Vida (ICV): Brazilian NGO operating in Mato Grosso on sustainable development, forest monitoring, and indigenous land protection. Comparable in field-based conservation, monitoring tech, and regional policy advocacy.
• Instituto Arapyaú: Brazilian institute focused on sustainability, governance, and bioeconomy with comparable footprint in Pantanal/Cerrado regions. Similar profile as a Brazilian-based environmental non-profit leveraging strategic partnerships.
• Instituto Socioambiental (ISA): Major Brazilian socio-environmental NGO combining indigenous rights, biodiversity protection, and policy advocacy. Highly comparable in mission, operating model, and reliance on technical-scientific output for public policy influence.
• SOS Mata Atlântica: Foundational peer — SOS Pantanal was inspired by and explicitly modeled after SOS Mata Atlântica's conservation approach. They co-deliver the 'Águas que Falam' project. Both are biome-focused Brazilian conservation NGOs using policy advocacy, field programs, and public engagement.

Broad incumbents

• Conservation International (CI-Brasil): Global conservation NGO with active Brazil programs focused on forests, oceans, and climate. Comparable in leveraging satellite monitoring, science-based advocacy, and corporate partnerships for conservation outcomes.
• Greenpeace Brasil: Major environmental advocacy NGO operating in Brazil with significant fire, deforestation, and agricultural-policy campaigns. Comparable as a high-visibility Brazilian environmental organization using advocacy and field presence.
• WWF-Brasil: Larger, global-affiliated conservation NGO operating across Brazilian biomes with corporate partnerships, policy advocacy, and field programs. Overlaps with SOS Pantanal on Pantanal/Cerrado work and corporate engagement.
• The Nature Conservancy (TNC Brasil): Global conservation organization with Brazil operations covering multiple biomes, scientific monitoring, and corporate-NGO partnerships. Comparable in scale, technology use, and corporate funder network, though with broader geographic mandate.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@sospantanal
• Instagraminstagram.com/sospantanal
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/instituto-sos-pantanal

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Instituto SOS Pantanal