Paraguay images: the cost of soy
South America's rainforests are being destroyed by huge plantations of soy - mostly grown to feed animals in factory farms in Europe and elsewhere. In Paraguay soy now covers as much as 30% of eastern departments.
Friends of the Earth's recent fact-finding trip captured the evidence.
In these galleries we take a close look at how soy is affecting Paraguay's environment - and people's lives.
Paraguay images: the cost of soy
© Friends of the Earth
Little remains of the unique Atlantic Forest bordering this soy field in the eastern department of Alto Parana
© Friends of the Earth
A farmer works on cleared land in Itapua department near the Brazilian border
© Friends of the Earth
Dawn mist over soy fields in Alto Parana while a famer takes advantage of the cool morning temperature to tend to his crop
© Friends of the Earth
A summer crop of soy in Alto Parana. Intensive agricultural techniques mean some farmers boast of being able to produce three crops a year
© Friends of the Earth
It's almost harvest time in eastern Paraguay. Soy farmers apply a final round of chemicals to kill off all the leaves so the beans are easier to collect
© Friends of the Earth
The soy fields surrounding this church in Alto Parana department clearly breach Government safety regulations. The ban on planting within 50 m of public buildings and paths is meant to prevent people coming into contact with toxic chemicals used on crops
© Friends of the Earth
Soy plants contrast with the red earth near the eastern frontier town of Ciudad del Este
© Friends of the Earth
Grain silos beside vast soy fields are a common sight in eastern Paraguay
© Friends of the Earth
