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PARAGUAY
Paraguay Forest Figures
Forest CoverTotal forest area: 18,475,000 ha % of land area: 46.5%
Primary forest cover: 1,850,000 ha % of land area: 4.7% % total forest area: 10.0%
Deforestation Rates, 2000-2005Annual change in forest cover: -178,600 ha Annual deforestation rate: -0.9% Change in defor. rate since '90s: 9.1% Total forest loss since 1990: -2,682,000 ha Total forest loss since 1990:-12.7%
Primary or "Old-growth" forests Annual loss of primary forests: n/a Annual deforestation rate: n/a Change in deforestation rate since '90s: n/a Primary forest loss since 1990: n/a Primary forest loss since 1990:0.0%
Forest ClassificationPublic: n/a Private: n/a Other: n/a Use Production: 0.2% Protection: n.s.% Conservation: 10% Social services: n.s.% Multiple purpose: 0% None or unknown: 89.8
Forest Area BreakdownTotal area: 18,475,000 ha Primary: 1,850,000 ha Modified natural: 16,582,000 ha Semi-natural: n/a Production plantation: 43,000 ha Production plantation: n/a
PlantationsPlantations, 2005: 43,000 ha % of total forest cover: 0.2% Annual change rate (00-05): 1,400,000 ha
Carbon storageAbove-ground biomass: n/a M t Below-ground biomass: n/a M t
Area annually affected byFire: n/a Insects: n/a Diseases: n/a
Number of tree species in IUCN red listNumber of native tree species: n/a Critically endangered: 0 Endangered: 5 Vulnerable: 7
Paraguay has more than 18 million hectares of tropical forest, very little of which can be classified as true rainforest. As of 1990, about 10 percent of this forest cover was considered primary forest.
In the 1990s, the Paraguayan government initiated a media campaign to make its citizens more aware of the country's environmental issues, but the efforts have not affected the county's overall deforestation rate, which has actually increased 9 percent since the close of the 1990s. Currently, Paraguay loses an average of 178,600 hectares of forest per year, largely due to subsistence farming and land clearing for cattle pasture. Poor infrastructure has hampered efforts to develop the country's potential timber resources—the value of industrial round wood harvested in 2005 was only about $253 million.
Part of the world's largest wetland, the Pantanal is found in Paraguay. There are concerns that proposed infrastructure projects could damage this important ecosystem.
According to IUCN, less than 4 percent of Paraguay is protected on paper. The country has some 1,084 known species of amphibians, birds, mammals, and reptiles, of which, 1.5 percent are endemic and 3.7 percent are threatened. Paraguay is home to at least 7,851 species of vascular plants
Paraguay extends zero deforestation law
(10/10/2008) Paraguay announced it will implement a policy to cut net carbon emissions from land use change to zero by 2020, reports WWF.
Pantanal, the world's largest wetland, disappearing finds new report
(01/10/2006) Deforestation has destroyed 17 percent of the Pantanal, the world's largest wetland, according to a new report from conservation International. The Pantanal, an area of flooded grassland and savanna covering 200,000 square kilometers during the rainy season, includes parts of Brazil, Paraguay, and Bolivia and is fed by the Rio Paraguay. The wetland is home to some 3500 species of plant and 650 species of birds. About 125 types of mammals, 180 kinds of reptiles, 41 types of amphibians, and 325 species of fish have been found in the region. The Pantanal in an important source of freshwater to neighboring farming areas and downstream urban areas.
