Dramatic Images Of The Impact Of Climate Change On World’s Largest Wetland To Go On Display At The Science Museum

From 6 February 2026, visitors can discover the unparalleled biodiversity of the Pantanal, a South American wetland which faces an unprecedented threat from fire, in a free photography exhibition at the Science Museum.

• Water Pantanal Fire features more than 60 striking images on display for the first time in the UK.
• Captured by two leading Brazilian photographers, the images showcase the fragile beauty of this aquatic paradise and the impact of climate change. 

Water Pantanal Fire
6 February – 31 May 2026
Free 
Recommended ages: 12+
Link:  https://bit.ly/4pq99Sc

The Science Museum today announced Water Pantanal Fire, a free photography exhibition documenting the world’s largest wetland and the challenges it faces from climate change. Over 60 images, captured by two of Brazil’s leading documentary photographers, will go on display in an exhibition curated by Eder Chiodetto and produced by the Brazilian initiative Documenta Pantanal, contrasting the beauty of this natural wonder with the destruction it has suffered.

Wetlands were a major focus at COP30 in Belém this November, highlighting their role in climate change mitigation and the need to protect them. Recognised by UNESCO as a Natural World Heritage Site and Biosphere Reserve, the Pantanal is a tropical wetland covering approximately 200,000 km2, straddling Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay. This region is home to a rich and unique biodiversity including animals such as jaguars, howler monkeys, caiman, marsh deer, and an abundance of fish and birds. Often referred to as a paradise on Earth, life in the Pantanal follows the rhythm of the alternating dry and wet seasons which flood the land. 

Water Pantanal Fire showcases work by two leading Brazilian photographers: Lalo de Almeida and Luciano Candisani. Captured between 2007 and 2024, their images reveal a stark contrast between a watery region teeming with life and, after the droughts and fires, a barren landscape.

Relatively well preserved until recent decades, the Pantanal’s delicate ecosystem is now threatened by an overuse of its resources and other human activity. Deforestation, intensive farming and climate change are contributing to the Pantanal drying out and to devastating wildfires. In 2020, a record-breaking wildfire ravaged the Pantanal, burning 26% of the region and killing 17 million vertebrates. Such catastrophic events are occurring ever more frequently, with the last major wildfire happening in 2024.

Anna Ferrari, Curator of Art and Visual Culture at the Science Museum, said: ‘We are proud to host this important exhibition at the Science Museum. Water Pantanal Fire will give visitors the opportunity to discover one of the world’s most beautiful and extraordinary environments, while highlighting how human activity is causing its destruction and pushing it towards a tipping point.’

Candisani’s images focus on water: an omnipresent element of the Pantanal, vital for the preservation of the rich biodiversity that thrives in its rivers, streams and lagoons. Whether taken from the air or by plunging into the waters of the wetland, Candisani expertly captures this breathtaking aquatic paradise. His underwater images offer close encounters with the exceptional wildlife that flows through the Pantanal, while his photographs taken from the skies will give visitors a glimpse of this immense biome where lives are shaped by the water.

Almeida turned his camera towards the 2020 and 2024 fires that engulfed the wetland, and the disastrous consequences of climate change on the region. His dramatic images document the destructive fires and the desolation they left behind, contrasting the luscious forests and flows of the Pantanal with the fires and ashes he found in their wake. Powerless firefighters, wetlanders and wildlife that witnessed this destruction appear against the backdrop of scorching flames and barren lands in these moving photographs. 

Eder Chiodetto, Curator of Water Pantanal Fire, said: ‘Water Pantanal Fire is an exhibition intended to make an impact on people’s minds and hearts regarding the path we are charting for our planet. With a powerful visual impact, photographs by Lalo de Almeida and Luciano Candisani address the climate crisis and the misuse of soil and water. Produced by Documenta Pantanal, this travelling exhibition is taking place simultaneously in several cities in Europe and Brazil, with a strong educational focus.’

Exhibited in the UK for the first time, Water Pantanal Fire is part of the UK/Brazil Season of Culture 2025-26, organised by the British Council and Instituto Guimarães Rosa, the Brazilian government’s organisation for cultural diplomacy. 

The exhibition began its international tour in 2024 at the Instituto Tomie Ohtake in São Paulo, Brazil, before visiting the Museum of Tomorrow in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the International Maritime Museum in Hamburg, Germany, the National Museum of Natural History and Science in Lisbon, Portugal and the Brazilian Embassy in Berlin, Germany. 

Entry to Water Pantanal Fire is free with a free general admission ticket to the Science Museum. For further information or to book tickets to Water Pantanal Fire, please visit: https://bit.ly/4pq99Sc.

Recommended age is 12+. This exhibition contains content that some visitors might find challenging. 

For further information or to arrange interviews please contact Laura Nebout in the Press Office at laura.nebout@sciencemuseum.ac.uk or 020 7942 4733. Images are available to download via this link.

Documenta Pantanal is an initiative dedicated to highlighting the unique richness of this important Brazilian biome and the growing threats to its integrity. Since 2019, it has conceived, encouraged, and carried out actions that reveal the Pantanal in all its diversity and draw attention to the urgency of protecting it. By creating a mosaic of perspectives that expose the complex reality of the Pantanal, their work calls on audiences worldwide to become aware of the gravity of the climate crisis threatening our ecosystems and to consider what needs to be done to contain it. documentapantanal.com.br 

Luciano Candisani (1970, São Paulo, Brazil) has produced photographic narratives about traditional cultures and ecosystems around the world for three decades. Balancing art and documentary, his award-winning images align closely with his creative motivation of showing remaining large natural spaces and highlighting the urgent need to safeguard territories and cultures at risk. His photographs are exhibited in galleries and museums around the world, and in periodicals such as National Geographic. Candisani is the author of nine photography books and has held 40 exhibitions.

Lalo de Almeida (1970, São Paulo, Brazil) is a Brazilian documentary photographer who focuses on socio-environmental issues, particularly in the Amazon region. His long-term project, “Amazonian Dystopia”, which documents the predatory occupation model in the region, received the Eugene Smith Grant in Humanistic Photography. In 2024, Lalo won a second World Press Photo award for his work on the drought in the Amazon, and the Maria Moors Cabot Prize from Columbia University (USA). Lalo is a National Geographic Explorer.

The Science Museum is part of the Science Museum Group, the world’s leading group of science museums that share a world-class collection providing an enduring record of scientific, technological and medical achievements from across the globe. Over the last century the Science Museum has grown in scale and scope, inspiring visitors with exhibitions covering topics as diverse as robots, codebreaking, cosmonauts and superbugs. The Science Museum was named a winner of the prestigious Art Fund Museum of the Year prize for 2020. http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/. Follow on X, Facebook and Instagram. 

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