Paraguay images: the cost of soy

Paraguay images: One of the last great wildernesses under threat
5 July 2011

Agriculture in Paraguay's dry Chaco is turning the vast virgin forest into bleak prairie-style farmland. These images on our recent fact-finding trip reveal the true picture.

Farmers and ranchers are hacking into the second largest South American forest outside the Amazon. Their spread is threatening the jaguars, rare species and some of the world's last uncontacted people, the Ayoreo, who call it home.

Stark clumps of trees are a token nod to the 25% of forest legally required to remain on each cleared plot. The region's remoteness and a lack of Government resources mean  deforestation is difficult to check.

About 1 million hectares, or nearly 10%, of the dry forest in northern Paraguay has been cleared in just 4 years by ranchers using fire, chains and bulldozers.

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One of the last great wildernesses under threat

Cerro Leon, in the National Park of Defensores del Chaco, part of the dry Chaco, Alto Paraguay

© Friends of the Earth

Aerial view of farmland in the chaco around Filadelfia, Paraguay

© Friends of the Earth

Aerial view of farmland in the chaco around Filadelfia, Paraguay

© Friends of the Earth

Aerial view of farmland in the chaco around Filadelfia, Paraguay

© Friends of the Earth

Deforestation near Agua Dulce, part of the dry Chaco, Paraguay

© Friends of the Earth

An aerial view of soy fields near Mariscal Estagarribia, Boqueron, part of the dry Chaco, Paraguay

© Friends of the Earth

Deforestation in Paraguay: Recently deforested land near Mariscal Estagarribia, Boqueron, part of the dry Chaco, Paraguay

© Friends of the Earth

deforestation in Paraguay: Recently deforested trees being burned near Mariscal Estagarribia, part of the dry Chaco, Boqueron, Paraguay

© Friends of the Earth

Recently deforested land near Mariscal Estagarribia, Boqueron, part of the dry Chaco, Paraguay

© Friends of the Earth