Hidden Lifelines: The Neglected Protection of Brazil’s Diffuse Seeps

Toco Toucan

07-10-2025

Kingfisher, ever a flamboyant individual, wears an exuberant outfit as though every day is a festival. Even as he toils away each day, fishing by the pond, he never forgets to check his reflection on the water. The more he looks, the more he thinks of himself highly; naturally, there is nothing to find fault with.

In “The Most Beautiful Bird”; Wild Wise Weird [1]

© AA

A new study published in Perspectives in Ecology and Conservation highlights a striking paradox in Brazil’s environmental policy: many of the country’s most crucial water-regulating ecosystems are legally protected, yet remain neglected in practice. Led by Alessandra Bassani and colleagues, the paper argues that diffuse seeps—hidden, groundwater-fed wetlands scattered across the Cerrado savanna—are foundational to Brazil’s water security but are routinely misclassified or ignored by scientists, landowners, and regulatory agencies [2].

Unlike floodplain wetlands, non-floodplain wetlands (NFWs) form where the water table naturally rises to the surface, creating saturated soils even when no visible water is present [3,4]. These diffuse seeps regulate river flows, recharge aquifers, and store carbon, sustaining the “Brazilian water tank” that feeds the Amazon, Pantanal, and other major river basins [5-7]. Yet because they lack surface water, they often escape mapping, enforcement, and restoration efforts.

Brazil’s Native Vegetation Protection Law (Law No. 12,651/2012) already grants permanent protection to seeps—defined as any natural outcrop of the water table—but that poor scientific terminology and weak implementation have rendered these protections largely symbolic. In practice, only veredas (palm swamps) are commonly recognized as protected wetlands, while vast expanses of seep-fed grasslands are drained or converted for agriculture, leading to widespread water shortages and biodiversity decline.

To address this disconnect, Bassani et al. propose aligning eco-hydrological science with environmental governance by consistently adopting the terms “seeps” and “diffuse seeps” to describe ecosystems where the water table naturally outcrops across research, land-use planning, and environmental licensing. They also recommend new high-resolution mapping and field-based indicators—such as identifying shallow water tables or specific wetland plants—to ensure effective protection [2].

This scientific and legal convergence embodies the principles of Nature Quotient (NQ)—the awareness of humanity’s interdependence with ecological systems [8]. Recognizing diffuse seeps as living infrastructure nurtures an ethic of ecological reciprocity: protecting nature not for utility alone but for the peace and stability it sustains [9]. When societies internalize high NQ values, policies evolve from mere regulation toward coexistence, bridging human development with the quiet work of invisible ecosystems [10].

References

[1] Vuong QH. (2024). Wild Wise Weird. https://books.google.com/books?id=N10jEQAAQBAJ

[2] Bassani A, et al. (2025). Legally protected, practically overlooked: The neglect of diffuse seeps in the conservation of Cerrado non-floodplain wetlands. Perspectives in Ecology and Conservation, 23, 151-156. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pecon.2025.06.001

[3] Lane CR, et al. (2023). Mapping global non-floodplain wetlands. Earth System Science Data, 15, 2927-2955. https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-2927-2023

[4] Leibowitz SG, et al. (2023). National hydrologic connectivity classification links wetlands with stream water quality. Nature Water, 1, 370-380. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44221-023-00057-w

[5] Lima JE. (2011). Situação e perspectivas sobre as águas do cerrado. Ciência E Culture, 63, 27-29, https://doi.org/10.21800/S0009-67252011000300011

[6] Oliveira PTS, et al. (2014). Trends in water balance components across the Brazilian Cerrado. Water Resource Research, 50, 7100-7114. https://doi.org/10.1002/2013WR015202

[7] Santos FC, et al. (2024). Fires in pantanal: the link to agriculture, conversions in cerrado, and hydrological changes. Wetlands, 44, 75. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-024-01832-5

[8] Vuong QH, Nguyen MH. (2025). On Nature Quotient. Pacific Conservation Biology, 31, PC25028. https://doi.org/10.1071/PC25028

[9] Nguyen MH, Ho MT, La VP. (2025). On “An” (安): Inner peace through uncertainty, nature quotient, and harmony with Dao. http://books.google.com/books/about?id=NIKMEQAAQBAJ

[10] Nguyen MH. (2024). How can satirical fables offer us a vision for sustainability? Visions for Sustainability, 23(11267), 323-328. https://doi.org/10.13135/2384-8677/11267