Legal reform in talks for a sustainable forest development

By BKM | Berkemeyer

Paraguay’s recently appointed administration, led by President Mario Abdo Benítez, plans to update the forest law that has been into force in the country for 45 years, informed the National Forestry Institute (Infona).

Introduced in 1973, Paraguay's Forest Law (No. 422) aimed to protect and preserve forests within productive landscapes as well as the ecosystem services that they provide. Cristina Goralewski, President of Infona, assured to EFE news agency that “several articles” of the law need to be reviewed in order to comply Abdo Benítez policies for a sustainable forest development.
Such policies are already underway, after Abdo Benítez repealed a September 2017 decree that opened the possibility of transforming natural reserves into forest crops for commercial purposes. The decree had been largely criticized by Congress members and international organizations like nature conservation group World Water Forum (WWF).

Paraguay has large areas of land suitable for forestry plantation of high productivity. Studies indicate that up to 45% of the Paraguayan territory has potential for forest plantations and/or sustainable use of native forests.

Nevertheless, deforestation has been particularly widespread in the country in recent years. Between 1987 and 2012, the forests in Paraguay lost nearly 44,000 square kilometers (17,000 square miles), mainly because of the expansion of cattle farms in the western part of the country.