Deforestation

The region between the Paraguay and the Parana Rivers was once covered with rain forests. However, with the expansion of lumbering and farming activities, the forests are rapidly receding. At current rates of deforestation, virtually all of eastern Paraguay is expected to be stripped of its forestry cover by the year 2005.

Asunción, Paraguay: The Paraguayan government has extended the “Zero Deforestation Law” for a further five years, resulting in an important conservation win for this highly threatened eco-region.
Paraguay previously had the second-highest deforestation rate in the world, and nearly 7 million hectares of Atlantic Forest were lost to slash-and-burn methods of agriculture and ranching.
Most of the remaining forests have been exploited for timber, and some are second growth forests recovering from deforestation.
After Paraguay approved the Zero Deforestation Law for the eastern part of the country in 2004, there was a decrease of deforestation by about 90 percent.
Despite this great win for conservation, there is still much to be done; WWF is working with the government of Paraguay and local NGOs to implement financial and legal mechanisms such as payments for environmental services, to truly achieve a Zero Net Deforestation in the Atlantic Forest in Paraguay.

Paraguay extends Zero Deforestation Law to 2018