In the early 1990’s, jaguar hunters in Brazil’s Pantanal wetlands presented Douglas Trent with a jaguar canine. They told Douglas that he had proven himself as a true friend of the Pantaneiro community, and by accepting the canine gift would become a Pantaneiro and a member of their family. Douglas delightfully accepted and proposed an offer of his own, telling the hunters: “If you stop killing jaguars, I will help your community work with nature tourism and help build a lodge to attract tourists.” Given the long-held trust between them the deal was sealed. 

Having created the first professional nature tour company in Brazil, Focus Tours, Douglas had the experience to hold up his end of the deal. He connected with Joanne Devlin, who owned a paving company in the USA. Joanne agreed to fund the permanent preservation of 1,000 hectares in the Pantanal, creating the Jaguar Ecological Reserve. As Douglas promoted tours for the region, operator clients in the US agreed to prepay their tours early. This finance provided Douglas the means to fund the construction of the ecolodge, located at kilometer 128 on the Transpantaneira highway. As the lodge was under construction, Douglas began leading nature tours through the region with the strong support of many clients. These were the early stages in what became a booming ecotourism site, that drew together exceptional natural beauty, the local community, nature tourists, and environmentally concerned investors. To grow the program, Douglas and Joanne established a 501 (c)(3) NGO in the USA and created the Focus Conservation Fund. Read more about the Jaguar Ecological Reserve program elsewhere in this site.