Conservation Issues

Paraguay—Guaraní Aquifer Project

Sustainable Development in Latin America

Priority Sites in Latin America

Dry Chaco
Bolivian Yungas
Peruvian Yungas
Choco Darien
Eastern Slopes of the Andes
Participating Institutions
Methods

A Framework for Sustainable Conservation Practices in the Guaraní Aquifer of Paraguay

The Guaraní aquifer is the largest freshwater aquifer in South America, covering more than 1.2 million square kilometers and spanning four countries—Paraguay, Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina (see map below). The aquifer underlies nearly 20% of Paraguay, covering a vast landscape of 72,000 square kilometers in the southeastern portion of the country. This region represents one of the most important recharge zones for the entire Guaraní, and as such is critical to the health and management of this international natural resource.

Schematic Map of the Guaraní Aquifer

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The goal of this project is to develop more effective resource management policies and decision-making in the Paraguayan section of the Guaraní aquifer watershed. The aquifer is shared by all four nations in the MERCOSUR free-trade alliance (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay). NatureServe is working cooperatively with the Paraguay Ministry of Environment within the MERCOSUR framework to develop specific guidance related to watershed and aquifer management and conservation of the region’s rich biological resources.

The project was funded by The Tinker Foundation and was completed in April 2005.

Project Objectives

• Improve management of biological resources in the Paraguayan portion of the Guaraní aquifer system.
• Assess the current biodiversity and water policy issues related to use of the aquifer by documenting and mapping the complex relationship between water resources, biological resources, socio-economic issues, and existing policy frameworks in the Alto Paraná Interior Forests ecoregion, which serves as a key recharge area for the aquifer.
• Identify biodiversity conservation opportunities and constraints relevant to environmental policy within the Paraguayan portion of the aquifer.
• Strengthen in-country capacity for ongoing environmental monitoring and policy-relevant information analysis and dissemination.

Key Findings and Recommendations

The study examines environmental issues within the social, economic, and legal contexts of the Guaraní aquifer region and considers how these factors relate to the natural resource policies of the Paraguay Ministry of the Environment. The report’s key findings and recommendations are:

• Create new protected areas at municipal and state levels as a tool for biodiversity conservation and sustainable development of local communities.
• Establish a biodiversity information system as a key link between socioeconomic development and biodiversity knowledge.

  CITES Biodiversity Occurrences

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• Increase investments in management plans and zoning of protected areas as an instrument to enhance environmental education and natural resource management.
• Improve social investments and build capacity to control ground water pollution and the conservation of related ecosystems.
• Define conservation priorities for biodiversity and ecosystems in the Global Environment Facility’s pilot areas of Encarnación, Bella Vista, and Ciudad del Este and implement a biodiversity information system in these municipalities.
• Study the effects of deforestation on biodiversity, soils, climate change, and selected watershed systems with a focus on species listed under CITES.
• Develop new data standards and communication protocols among MERCOSUR countries ( Argentina, Brasil, Paraguay, and Uruguay) to address common goals in the conservation of the Guaraní aquifer.

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 NatureServe

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