The ”’deforestation in Paraguay”’ is the process of destruction or depletion of the forest cover in Paraguay. Between 1970 and the year 2000, [[Paraguay]] lost more than 50% of its Atlantic Forest cover.<ref name=”Oxfam”>{{Cite web |date=2017-07-27 |title=Paraguay: informe de distribución de la tierra |url=https://www.oxfam.org/es/informes/paraguay-informe-de-distribucion-de-la-tierra |access-date=2025-09-28 |website=Oxfam International |language=es}}</ref> Deforestation is also advancing in the Alto Paraguay area, where most of the forest area was already lost during the period 2007 to 2012.<ref name=”Plan_Nacional”>{{Cite book |url=https://www4.unfccc.int/sites/NAPC/Documents/Parties/Plan%20Nacional%20de%20Adaptaci%c3%b3n%20al%20Cambio%20Clim%c3%a1tico_Paraguay_final.pdf |title=Plan Nacional de Adaptación al Cambio Climático |year=2017}}</ref>
The ”’deforestation in Paraguay”’ is the process of destruction or depletion of the forest cover in Paraguay. Between 1970 and the year 2000, [[Paraguay]] lost more than 50% of its Atlantic Forest cover.<ref name=”Oxfam”>{{Cite web |date=2017-07-27 |title=Paraguay: informe de distribución de la tierra |url=https://www.oxfam.org/es/informes/paraguay-informe-de-distribucion-de-la-tierra |access-date=2025-09-28 |website=Oxfam International |language=es}}</ref> Deforestation is also advancing in the Alto Paraguay area, where most of the forest area was already lost during the period 2007 to 2012.<ref name=”Plan_Nacional”>{{Cite book |url=https://www4.unfccc.int/sites/NAPC/Documents/Parties/Plan%20Nacional%20de%20Adaptaci%c3%b3n%20al%20Cambio%20Clim%c3%a1tico_Paraguay_final.pdf |title=Plan Nacional de Adaptación al Cambio Climático |year=2017}}</ref>
According to official data by the Servicio Forestal Nacional, in the Eastern Region, in a period of 40 years, between 1945 and 1985, about 5 million hectares of forest were lost, calculated at an average of 123,000 hectares per year. In the period between the years 1968 and 1976, the amount of deforestation in the region rose to 212,000 hectares per year. in the period between 1985 and 1991, according to research by the Carrera de Ingeniería Forestal (CIF, UNA) deforestation rates rose further, at a rate of approximately 300,000 hectares per year, recording the elimination of a total of approximately 2 million hectares of forest.<ref>{{cite web |last=Vera Sosa |first=Esteban |title=VIII. ESTADO ACTUAL DE LA INFORMACION SOBRE RECURSOS FORESTALES Y CAMBIO EN EL USO DE LA TIERRA |url=https://www.fao.org/4/ad390s/AD390s10.htm |publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization |date= |access-date=February 7, 2026 |language=es}}</ref> Deforestation rates in the Paraguayan Chaco tripled between 2006 and 2007.<ref name=”OpenDemocracyParaguayDeforestation”>{{Cite web
According to official data by the Servicio Forestal Nacional, in the Eastern Region, in a period of 40 years, between 1945 and 1985, about 5 million hectares of forest were lost, calculated at an average of 123,000 hectares per year. In the period between the years 1968 and 1976, the amount of deforestation in the region rose to 212,000 hectares per year. in the period between 1985 and 1991, according to research by the Carrera de Ingeniería Forestal (CIF, UNA) deforestation rates rose further, at a rate of approximately 300,000 hectares per year, recording the elimination of a total of approximately 2 million hectares of forest.<ref>{{cite web |last=Vera Sosa |first=Esteban |title=VIII. ESTADO ACTUAL DE LA INFORMACION SOBRE RECURSOS FORESTALES Y CAMBIO EN EL USO DE LA TIERRA |url=https://www.fao.org/4/ad390s/AD390s10.htm |publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization |date= |access-date=February 7, 2026 |language=es}}</ref>
Between 1990 and 2000, Paraguay lost about 13 percent of its forests, including nearly 40 percent of the Atlantic Forest.<ref name=”NASA_Paraguay_2009″>{{cite web |last=NASA Earth Observatory |title=Forest Change in Paraguay |url=https://science.nasa.gov/earth/earth-observatory/forest-change-in-paraguay-41413/ |website=NASA |date=November 26, 2009 |access-date=February 7, 2025}}</ref>
Deforestation rates in the Paraguayan Chaco tripled between 2006 and 2007.<ref name=”OpenDemocracyParaguayDeforestation”>{{Cite web
|title=Tropical deforestation in Paraguay and our BBQ
|title=Tropical deforestation in Paraguay and our BBQ
|last=Hill
|last=Hill
The deforestation in Paraguay is the process of destruction or depletion of the forest cover in Paraguay. Between 1970 and the year 2000, Paraguay lost more than 50% of its Atlantic Forest cover.[1] Deforestation is also advancing in the Alto Paraguay area, where most of the forest area was already lost during the period 2007 to 2012.[2]
According to official data by the Servicio Forestal Nacional, in the Eastern Region, in a period of 40 years, between 1945 and 1985, about 5 million hectares of forest were lost, calculated at an average of 123,000 hectares per year. In the period between the years 1968 and 1976, the amount of deforestation in the region rose to 212,000 hectares per year. in the period between 1985 and 1991, according to research by the Carrera de Ingeniería Forestal (CIF, UNA) deforestation rates rose further, at a rate of approximately 300,000 hectares per year, recording the elimination of a total of approximately 2 million hectares of forest.[3]
Between 1990 and 2000, Paraguay lost about 13 percent of its forests, including nearly 40 percent of the Atlantic Forest.[4]
Deforestation rates in the Paraguayan Chaco tripled between 2006 and 2007.[5]
In 2004, Law No. 2524 on Zero Deforestation (Ley de Deforestación Cero) was enacted, which prohibited deforestation in the Eastern Region of Paraguay. In 2020, the law was extended for another ten years.[6]
Between 2001 and 2019, Paraguay was the South American country with the second highest rate of deforestation according to Global Forest Watch (GWF).[7]
The Gran Chaco region (stretches across parts of Paraguay, Argentina, and Bolivia), home to the second largest forest in Latin America (behind only the Amazon rainforest) has one of the highest deforestation rates globally. Deforestation has been particularly widespread in Paraguay in recent years.[8]
The main causes of deforestation in Paraguay are the expansion of the agricultural frontier and livestock farming.[2] Indirect causes of deforestation include a low level of institutionalization and difficulties in implementing territorial planning schemes.[2]
A significant part of deforestation occurs on illegally acquired lands. The high concentration of land in large territorial areas drives the advance of the agricultural frontier and livestock farming.[2] The Gini coefficient for the land (an indicator between 0 and 1 where 1 represents the maximum inequality), for Paraguay is 0.93, the most unequal land ownership in Latin America.[1] This great inequality in land distribution dates back to the Triple Allicane War, with Paraguay losing more than 334,000 square kilometers to Brazil, resulting in a consolidation of an oligarchic states and the formation of large estates.[9]
Between 1987 and 2012, around 44,000 square kilometers of forests were lost in Paraguay, mainly due to the expansion of cattle farms in the western part of the country.[8]
Anthropogenic fires and land grabs
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According to data from the Instituto Forestal Nacional (INFONA), in 2019, 2,450,749 hectares were burned. In 2020, 3,494,109 hectares and in 2023, 1,119,096 hectares. The majority of the fires are caused by human activities.[10] Anthropogenic fires are utilized by the agribusiness sector as a tool to facilitate illegal land grabbing and the expansion of the agricultural frontier. There are almost no state controls to enforce environmental and labor regulations, resulting in displacement of indigenous communities such as the Ayoreo.[11]
- ^ a b “Paraguay: informe de distribución de la tierra”. Oxfam International (in Spanish). 2017-07-27. Retrieved 2025-09-28.
- ^ a b c d Plan Nacional de Adaptación al Cambio Climático (PDF). 2017.
- ^ Vera Sosa, Esteban. “VIII. ESTADO ACTUAL DE LA INFORMACION SOBRE RECURSOS FORESTALES Y CAMBIO EN EL USO DE LA TIERRA” (in Spanish). Food and Agriculture Organization. Retrieved February 7, 2026.
- ^ NASA Earth Observatory (November 26, 2009). “Forest Change in Paraguay”. NASA. Retrieved February 7, 2025.
- ^ Hill, Toby (17 July 2017). “Tropical deforestation in Paraguay and our BBQ”. openDemocracy (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 February 2026.
- ^ Redacción EFEverde (December 10, 2020). “Paraguay prorroga diez años la Ley de Deforestación Cero”. EFEverde (in Spanish). Retrieved February 7, 2026.
- ^ Redacción NEA HOY (November 9, 2021). “Radiografía de la deforestación en Paraguay: ¿cómo llegó a ser el segundo país con más áreas destruidas de Sudamérica?”. NEA HOY (in Spanish). Retrieved February 7, 2026.
- ^ a b Voiland, Adam (May 1, 2018). “Deforestation in Paraguay”. NASA. Retrieved February 7, 2026.
- ^ “Paraguay – Context and Land Governance”. Land Portal. Land Portal Foundation. February 2, 2023. Retrieved February 7, 2026.
- ^ Rodríguez, María (30 August 2024). “Paraguay en llamas: estamos en la era del piroceno, o fuego incontrolable”. La Nación (Paraguay). Retrieved 6 February 2026.
- ^ Achucarro, Guillermo. “Deforestation, forest fires and land grabbing: What’s going on in Paraguay?”. Agribusiness’ Global Trail of Fire: LAND GRABBING, DEFORESTATION AND FOREST FIRES IN BRAZIL’S AMAZON, CERRADO AND PANTANAL. Agro é Fogo. Retrieved 2025-02-06.
