| Fast Facts |
location
370 miles north of Asunción
ecoregions
Chaco and Humid Chaco
project size
Roughly 11 million acres spanning Paraguay and Bolivia
public lands
Defensores del Chaco National Park and Cerro Cabrera-Timane, Paraguay; National Park, Kaa Iya National Park, Bolivia
partners
Fundación DeSdel Chaco, U.S. Agency for International Development, Paraguayan government
natural events
Lapacho trees produce beautiful yellow blooms, September | |
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A proposed biological corridor would connect this 2-million-acre wilderness with protected areas totaling more than 8 million acres, safeguarding habitat in one of South America's fiercest landscapes. |
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Seasonal wetlands in the Chaco.
© Michael Moody/DDB Stock Photo |
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A sprawling, varied and often unforgiving wilderness, Paraguay's Chaco bridges more than 100,000 square miles between the grassy Argentine Pampa, the towering Andes Mountains and the Pantanal, the world's largest wetland.
The name "Chaco" comes from Quechua natives, who were so impressed by vast herds of mammals that they called the region "great hunting ground." The Chaco remains a safe haven for roaming predators including puma, jaguar and the maned wolf, one of the world's most threatened species. It also serves as a mecca for birds, including the pink flamingo and the ostrich-like ñandú, as well as a handful of species found nowhere else on Earth. |
Maned wolf.
© Joel Sartore |
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Although a refuge for wildlife, the Chaco is less hospitable to humans. Mennonite settlers arriving from Canada in the 1920s dubbed the region a "green hell" because of its scissor-sharp brushland, scarce water and extreme temperatures. Even today, few Paraguayans venture west of the Paraguay River. The Chaco spans 60 percent of Paraguay |
| but supports just 3 percent of the country's population. Only one partially paved road, the Ruta Trans Chaco, traverses the region. Yet even the remote Chaco faces pressure from unsustainable cattle ranching and population growth. | |
The Nature Conservancy has been working in the Chaco since the late 1990s, when we helped hire park guards, created a local conservation group and provided infrastructure for the protection of the 2-million-acre Defensores del Chaco National Park. We are currently working with Fundación DeSdel Chaco to create a biological corridor linking Chaco National Park to 8.6 million acres of protected areas in Bolivia and Paraguay. By protecting this area, we would create the largest dry, tropical protected area in Latin America.
Learn more about The Nature Conservancy's work in Paraguay. |
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| Conservation Profile |
targets
seasonal freshwater springs and wetlands, jaguar, tagua, trebol tree, night monkey, Chacoan fairy armadillo, Chacoan peccary, and birds such as the Quebracho crested-tinamou and greater rhea
stresses
habitat fragmentation, unsustainable ranching, damming of rivers, illegal hunting
strategies
promote ecologically compatible land-use practices, protect water supply, strengthen local partner organizations, staff park guard stations, engage community
results
secured concrete protection for 2 million acres; completed rapid ecological assessment and management plan for the park | | | | |
