Saving the Paraguayan Landscapes

Severe deforestation of the Atlantic Forest has left the protected areas as islands amongst soya plantations. Photo © Guyra Paraguay

Large areas of the Chacohabitat have been cleared for cattle ranching. Photo © Guyra Paraguay

Giant anteater - one of the rare mammals found in the project areas. © Bruce Pearson

Why conservation of Paraguay's habitats is critical

Paraguay is a relatively unknown, land-locked country in the heart of South America.

• It is the meeting point for many different ecoregions, including lowland rainforest, grassland, wetlands and dry and humid forest ecosystems.
• It holds a rich and unique variety of habitats supporting a multitude of wildlife.
• The importance of these regions to wildlife and the threats to their survival have received relatively little attention until recently.

Threats to the Paraguayan wildlife habitats

• The once extensive Atlantic Forest is now reduced to a series of fragmented forest islands, meaning that the wildlife is increasingly threatened.
• The Chaco habitat is easily destroyed and large areas have already been clear to make way for cattle ranching.
• The Chaco-Pantanal transition zone is under the threat of being drained, polluted and also lost through the spread of agriculture.

Species Diversity

Within Paraguay's diverse habitats big cats such as jaguars, pumas, ocelots and jaguarundis can be found. There are also five species of primates, the Lowland Tapir, Maned Wolf and Giant Otter, a number of fox and deer species, and the worlds highest diversity of armadillos, to name just a few of the mammals present.

It's location in the centre of South America makes Paraguay an important stop-over for migratory birds. There are also parrot species such as the Endangered Hyacinth Macaw and Birds of Prey such as the Harpy Eagle and Endangered Crowned Solitary Eagle. The Atlantic Forest, in particular, is known for its high diversity of reptiles. Within the first year of biological monitoring, project partners Guyra Paraguay identified two new species of snake.

The World Land Trust is now urgently raising funds to save more of the Chaco/Pantanal as land becomes available which could be added to existing reserve areas.

How you can help:

Project Resources

Photos, Maps, Videos and more

This map shows the locations of the Paraguay reserves. Our sister site Wildlife Focus has a photo gallery with images from the Paraguay Project area, as well as videos taken in the Ecuador reserves.

Other project resources and links

The three reserve areas:

• Campo Iris Reserve (Dry Chaco)
• Chaco-Pantanal Reserve
• Guyra Reta Reserve (Atlantic Forest)

Other links:

• Project updates
• Project Briefs (downloadable PDF leaflet)
• External link: Acres of Paraguayan wetland saved (BBC News article)
• External link: Guyra Paraguay (in Spanish)