HomeNewsMass Deforestation in Paraguay Destroys National Parks
NEWS

Mass Deforestation in Paraguay Destroys National Parks

ENVIRONMENTAL CRIME / 26 AUG 2021 BY ASHLEY PECHINSKI EN

Paraguay's level of deforestation is outpacing some of its much larger neighbors – especially in the destruction of protected land.

At least 5,000 hectares of federally protected land in national parks have been destroyed by illegal deforestation in the past two years, Cristina Goralewski, president of the National Forest Institute (Instituto Forestal Nacional - Infona), told Paraguayan media.

This figure highlights the ongoing deterioration of Paraguay's forest cover. Paraguay lost over 100,000 hectares of primary forests and a massive 6.28 million hectares of tree cover between 2001 and 2019, over a quarter of its total forests, according to data from Global Forest Watch.

This has made Paraguay the country with the second-highest rate of deforestation in Latin America since 2000, behind only Brazil, which has lost 26.7 million hectares of forest and nearly 60 million hectares of tree cover.

This deforestation often has similar causes as other regional countries, including illegally burning trees to clear land for cattle ranching. But another cause has become a significant contributor.

SEE ALSO: Corrupt Police in Paraguay See Opportunity in Illegal Logging

There is a significant overlap between illegal marijuana plantations and Paraguay's protected areas. At least 2,350 hectares of marijuana plantations exist in Paraguay's Paraná Atlantic Forest, especially in natural parks of Mbaracayú, San Rafael, Morombí and Caazapá, according to Mongabay.

Paraguay is the leading producer of marijuana in Latin America, and that impact has devastated its forests. In October 2020 alone, the country saw over 5,000 deliberate forest fires, which the government blamed on "agricultural reasons or to grow marijuana."

Since at least 2016, marijuana has been the leading cause of deforestation in Paraguay, above clearing land for cattle and soybeans.

InSight Crime Analysis

Paraguay's Atlantic rainforest in Alto Paraná, a collection of the Caazapá, Mbaracayú, Morombí and San Rafael territories, has been the number one target for drug traffickers to hide their marijuana crops, Mongabay reports.

Measuring 4.3 million hectares in 1994, the Atlantic rainforest now only stands at 2.7 million hectares, largely because of marijuana cultivation.

In a futile effort to stop this rapid deforestation, the Paraguayan government has worked with the forest's park rangers to seize as much marijuana as possible. From 2015 to 2020, the National Anti-Drug Secretariat (Secretaría Nacional Antidrogas - SENAD) reported almost 82 tons worth of marijuana seizures from the Atlantic rainforest.

Unfortunately, the figures are trending in the wrong direction, with 40 percent of these seizures coming in 2020 alone.

SEE ALSO: Paraguay Grapples With Ever Larger Seizures of Marijuana

The use of protected natural areas to grow illicit crops is also a growing regional problem.

In Colombia, some of the country's most dangerous criminal groups have set up bases inside natural parks. This means that, while Colombia's total hectares of coca have dipped in recent years, the amount in protected areas has trended upwards. In 2020, the natural parks of Catatumbo Bari and La Paya saw coca cultivations increase by 66 and 49 percent, respectively.

Park rangers, often the only government presence inside national parks, have also come under increasing threat. In 2018, two park rangers were killed in Paraguay's Tapytá natural reserve. Similar killings have recently taken place in Colombia, Costa Rica and Mexico, often when the rangers ran afoul of drug traffickers.

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

COCAINE / 7 JUN 2022

A Mexican drug trafficking ring with connections to cartels operated marijuana plantations and cocaine processing labs in Spain, displaying how…

ARGENTINA / 7 MAR 2022

Paraguay has launched the biggest operation against cocaine trafficking and money laundering in its history, unleashing a scandal that has…

ENVIRONMENTAL CRIME / 21 NOV 2022

Wildlife traffickers in Mexico are taking advantage of the social media marketplace, placing some of Mexico’s endangered species in peril.

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Contributes Expertise Across the Board 

22 SEP 2023

This week InSight Crime investigators Sara García and María Fernanda Ramírez led a discussion of the challenges posed by Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s “Total Peace” plan within urban contexts. The…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Cited in New Colombia Drug Policy Plan

15 SEP 2023

InSight Crime’s work on emerging coca cultivation in Honduras, Guatemala, and Venezuela was cited in the Colombian government’s…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Discusses Honduran Women's Prison Investigation

8 SEP 2023

Investigators Victoria Dittmar and María Fernanda Ramírez discussed InSight Crime’s recent investigation of a massacre in Honduras’ only women’s prison in a Twitter Spaces event on…

THE ORGANIZATION

Human Trafficking Investigation Published in Leading Mexican Newspaper

1 SEP 2023

Leading Mexican media outlet El Universal featured our most recent investigation, “The Geography of Human Trafficking on the US-Mexico Border,” on the front page of its August 30…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Coverage of Ecuador Leads International Debate

25 AUG 2023

This week, Jeremy McDermott, co-director of InSight Crime, was interviewed by La Sexta, a Spanish television channel, about the situation of extreme violence and insecurity in Ecuador…