[{"bbox": [119, 152, 1112, 260], "category": "Text", "text": "which represents a deforestation rate of 332,938.52 ha per year according to the 2000-2015 report of Reference Levels of Forest Emission within the framework of the Joint National Programme UN REDD+. In 25 years, between 1987 and 2012, a total of 4.4 M ha were lost mainly due to expansion of cattle farms in the western part of the national territory."}, {"bbox": [119, 270, 1112, 617], "category": "Text", "text": "The main direct drivers of forest cover loss are agricultural and pastureland expansion due to market opportunities and growth based on expansion of cultivated area rather than increased productivity. Between the 1960s and early 2000s, the deforestation rate was particularly high in Eastern Paraguay, which has experienced a boom in soybean production. The Alto Parana Atlantic Forest suffered significant deforestation and now has less than 10% of its original cover. Large-scale change of land use has now shifted to the Western Region (Chaco), which is experiencing annual deforestation rates of 240,000 ha on average. Besides, an increasing amount of soybean production is taking place in areas that had traditionally been used for ranching, as small livestock producers see the sale or rental of their land to soybean producers as a source of financing. In the East, deforestation has slowed down due to the moratorium on deforestation, introduced in 2004 and prolonged for other 10 years in 2021 (this extension came from a coalition and a platform for dialogue between the government, conservation NGOs and the private sector). However, the remaining native forests continue to experience degradation, often fuelled by demand for forest biomass. Fragmentation of forest areas and loss of connectivity is further exacerbating the loss of biodiversity."}, {"bbox": [119, 627, 1112, 815], "category": "Text", "text": "Protected areas of Paraguay are located within the most productive agricultural regions. Therefore, the water bodies are subject to environmental threats arising from agriculture such as use of pesticides, waste from livestock production and soil erosion. For many decades, government policies have failed to stop the almost uncontrolled conversion of forest into pasture and crop land. Some of these practices continue to be implemented nowadays. There are considerable gaps in resources and productivity between the \"dynamic\" agro-business sector (concentrated in soy, wheat and meat) and the subsistence agriculture sector that occupies a large part of the rural population."}, {"bbox": [119, 826, 1112, 934], "category": "Text", "text": "Forest ecosystems are under increasing pressure from other sources such as forest fires, climate change, lack of conservation management, increasing large-scale illegal plantations for marijuana (even within protected areas), unsustainable production of forest services and products and illegal extraction of wood/coal for energy in off-grid communities."}, {"bbox": [119, 944, 1112, 1079], "category": "Text", "text": "Wildfires are another substantial threat to the ecosystem in Paraguay. The country has increasingly suffered from climate change over recent years. This caused intensive and recurrent droughts and floods and intensification in wind patterns. Droughts combined with inappropriate management techniques have resulted in destructive forest fires originating from grasslands on the northern Bolivian border of the country. In 2022 alone, devastating fires in northern Paraguay have burned millions of hectares of global biodiversity forest."}, {"bbox": [119, 1089, 1112, 1223], "category": "Text", "text": "Climate change is changing wildfire patterns, stretching fire seasons, increasing burning extensions, shifting occurrence outside of forest areas and reducing water availability, thus dramatically increasing the likelihood of forest fires. Global data and information about wildfires are scarce, fragmented and inconsistent. Some global data from satellite imagery provides information on spatial and time attributes of areas affected by fires, but they do not contain information on a single wildfire event."}, {"bbox": [119, 1234, 601, 1262], "category": "Text", "text": "The main root causes of forest fires in Paraguay are:"}, {"bbox": [157, 1273, 738, 1300], "category": "List-item", "text": "a) A widespread lack of awareness about forest and land fires"}, {"bbox": [157, 1301, 796, 1326], "category": "List-item", "text": "b) Institutional weakness and limited financial and human resources"}, {"bbox": [157, 1328, 413, 1353], "category": "List-item", "text": "c) Weak law enforcement"}, {"bbox": [157, 1354, 636, 1380], "category": "List-item", "text": "d) Overlapping claims to land and forest resources"}, {"bbox": [157, 1381, 1086, 1407], "category": "List-item", "text": "e) Human-induced changes in vegetation cover resulting in the rapid spread of fire-prone vegetation"}, {"bbox": [119, 1418, 1112, 1501], "category": "Text", "text": "There is also a fragile interinstitutional coordination in terms of fighting against forest fires. The detection software, hardware equipment and training is in most cases not up to date, and the emergency units to suppress flames are semi-professional crews."}, {"bbox": [119, 1511, 1112, 1592], "category": "Text", "text": "The Earth Observation technology (satellites, remote sensing) to understand fires causes, fire size and fire spread speed is inexistent. Today, only a few governmental bodies in Paraguay, such as Ministry of Environment (MADES), National Forest Institute (INFONA), Emergency Secretariat (SEN), the Space"}, {"bbox": [1012, 1680, 1122, 1706], "category": "Page-footer", "text": "Page 8 of 27"}]