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	Related Resources USAID Climate Change Activities in Paraguay Tropical Forest and Biodiversity FAA 118/119 (PDF, 1606K) USAID Paraguay Profile Paraguay Strategic Plan (PDF, 130K) Congressional Budget Justification 2006 USAID Partners Foundation for the Sustainable Development of the South American Chaco Institute of Law and Environmental Economics (IDEA) Moises Bertoni Foundation The Nature Conservancy World Wildlife Fund Paraguay Government Secretary of the Environment (Secretaria del Ambiente)
	Biodiversity in Latin America and the Caribbean Tropical Forest and Biodiversity FAA 118/119 Country Analyses Tropical Forest Conservation Act and Enterprise for the Americas Initiative USAID Resource Management Portal USAID Natural Resources Information Clearinghouse Additional Environment Resources
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Paraguay

Environment Summary

USAID’s activities are summarized below in the following three areas:

• Biodiversity
• Forestry
• Water
• Climate Change

Biodiversity

Many protected areas in Paraguay are protected in name only and are in need of better management. Local public institutions, however, lack the skills and resources necessary to improve the management of these protected areas. There is a great need for training local government, communities, and local NGOs that are interested in protecting these sensitive areas. USAID employs a two-pronged conservation approach by working to expand the area of protected land as well as to improve the management of the existing protected areas.

To expand the area of land protected under national parks, USAID works with both the government of Paraguay and private land owners. Through working with the government of Paraguay, an additional 94,000 hectares of land was designated as national park area in 2004. USAID recently helped create a legal framework to allow conservation easements for the first time in Paraguay. These easements allow private landowners to maintain ownership of their land while making a commitment to conserve the land and prevent future development. In 2004, 31,000 hectares of land was placed under improved biodiversity management through working with private landowners.

To improve park management, USAID provided training to national park officials in ecological management and improved enforcement of illegal logging. In partnership with Desdel Chaco, USAID has worked to improve the management at the Defensores del Chaco National Park, located in the Chaco region.

Defensores del Chaco National Park contains 53 mammal species. (Photo - USAID/Uwe Kurth)

Recently, USAID created shared management between the central government and local government of the parks in the Pantanal and Chaco regions. This management model not only ensures that the local community is engaged in protecting the land, but also creates employment opportunities. To learn more about the activities in the Chaco region, visit the The Nature Conservancy's Parks in Peril website.

USAID also promotes the development of environmental regulation concerning protecting biologically diverse land. New legislation promoted by USAID and the Institute of Law and Environmental Economics clarifies the allowable land use practices in national protected areas as well as the rights and responsibilities of landowners who live within the protected areas.

Lastly, USAID is encouraging the implementation of a debt swap under the US Tropical Forest Conservation Act. This debt swap would generate funds to protect regions with globally significant biodiversity while providing debt relief to Paraguay.

Forestry

The Upper Parana Atlantic Forest is home to the jaguar, tapir and collared anteater. (Photo - USAID/Uwe Kurth)

USAID has supported the development of national forest policy in Paraguay. To date, two forestry laws have been approved by the Lower House and are under study by the Senate. These measures will provide a powerful means of controlling deforestation in eastern Paraguay by prohibiting any deforestation in this region over the next five years.

Restoring the Upper Parana Atlantic Forest, shared by Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil, is a priority for USAID. Only 7% of the forest’s original 1.7 million square kilometers remain, and the deforestation rate is the highest in the portion of the forest lying in Paraguay. To address deforestation in this region, USAID partnered with the World Wildlife Fund to support a “Social Pact” led by the Paraguayan Vice-President to stop further conversion of the forest to cropland and pastures. The “Social Pact”, signed by the government of Paraguay, members of the private sector, and several NGOs, lays out a plan for decreasing the conversion of forest to agriculture. This agreement is a significant milestone in obtaining local and national support for conserving the Upper Parana Atlantic forest.

Water

The Pantanal Wetlands are the largest wetlands in the world. (Photo - USAID/Uwe Kurth)

The Pantanal Wetlands, shared by Brazil, Bolivia, and Paraguay, are the largest wetlands in the world. They cover more than 140,000 square kilometers, with approximately ten to fifteen percent of the area lying in Paraguay. The Pantanal Wetlands provide freshwater fisheries, water supply, water quality improvement, flood control, and many other services to Paraguay. The region’s ecosystem is threatened by expanding agricultural areas and an expanding infrastructure. To mitigate these threats, USAID supported the adoption of a conservation action plan for the Pantanal wetlands. Under the action plan, training and technical assistance will be provided to the local stakeholders so that they will develop the ability to manage the region on a long-term basis.

Climate Change

USAID's extensive activities in Paraguay have not only succeeded in increasing public participation in the process of environmental awareness but have also significantly helped mitigate the effects of climate change. Through USAID's support for the conservation of natural resources and management of protected areas, crucial carbon stocks have been preserved, as has important biodiversity.

For more information see USAID/EGAT's Paraguay Climate Change Country Program web page and
Paraguay Global Climate Change Country Profile.

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