Protecting forests in Paraguay

Context

The Gran Chaco is South America’s second-largest forest, spanning more than twice the size of California. It is one of the most ecologically diverse regions on Earth, home to a vast range of species and landscapes, including savannahs, rainforests, and wetlands. Despite its global significance, the Gran Chaco is facing rapid deforestation, with Paraguay suffering the most severe losses. Data collected from WRI’s Global Forest Watch showed deforestation increased by 78% in 2019, with a football pitch of forest being destroyed every two minutes in the Paraguayan Chaco. The primary drivers of this destruction are cattle ranching and soybean cultivation, which have led to the clearing of millions of hectares of land.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) estimates the Gran Chaco has approximately 3,400 species of plants, 500 species of birds, 150 species of mammals, along with 220 species of reptiles and amphibians. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List is a classification of the global conservation status of plant and animal species. The IUCN Red List contains 35 results for the Chaco Region as a whole and 30 results for Paraguay. These results include the endangered Chacoan peccary (Catagonuswagneri), the endangered Crowned solitary eagle (Buteogallus coronatus), and the vulnerable Chaco tortoise (Chelonoidis chilensis).

Chaco by Numbers:

32,000 hectares protected

150 mammal species

500 bird species

5 endangered, threatened or vulnerable species

220 reptile and amphibian species

3,400 plant species