The Gran Chaco is the second-largest biome on the continent after the Amazon. It is a vast territory shared by Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, and Paraguay, with a wealth of flora and fauna that is unique on the planet.
The vast plain stretching out before us, covering 1,066,000 km2, is an unparalleled natural treasure, made up of savannas, wetlands, marshes, and grasslands that together form the largest dry forest on the planet.
The biological diversity it harbors is astonishing, and its origins date back millions of years to geological and climatic processes that include erosion and the uplifting of the Andes. An invaluable part of this natural heritage has been preserved thanks to the creation of national parks and nature reserves.
The Chacoan populations are predominantly rural and largely indigenous. The Gran Chaco is home to more than 20 indigenous peoples, including the Ayoreo, the last group on the continent outside the Amazon rainforest to live in voluntary isolation.
For millennia, the peoples of this region have adopted a nomadic and sustainable lifestyle, maintaining a harmonious relationship with the richness of their forest and their territory. The economy of these people is based on hunting animals in the Chaco forest (wild pigs, armadillos, anteaters, and turtles) and gathering (honey, wild fruits, plant fibers, and raw materials for the production of everyday objects). These subsistence activities are complemented by fishing in streams and lagoons and farming in small clearings in the forest, both during the rainy season in summer.
Unfortunately, the Paraguayan Chaco is currently one of the areas most affected by deforestation worldwide. The rapid disappearance of the Chaco forests in Paraguay has a significant impact on the global climate crisis, with negative consequences for the entire planet.
The scale of deforestation in the Paraguayan Chaco is alarming: every day, approximately 800 hectares of forest are lost, equivalent to cutting down more than 1,000 football stadiums per day.
