ACRES OF PARAGUAYAN WETLANDS SAVED

[Anonymous]

Acres of Paraguayan wetland saved
Thousands
of acres of environmentally important wetland in South America have
been saved from destruction by a British charity.The land, in the
Pantanal area of northern Paraguay, has been bought by the World Land
Trust, working in partnership with Guyra, a Paraguayan bird life
charity.It is one of a number of land purchase projects which the UK
organisation, based in Halesworth, Suffolk, is working on.The Pantanal
is the largest wetland in the world and includes parts of Brazil,
Bolivia, and Paraguay.Large parts of it are threatened by deforestation
through logging and agricultural activities such as soy production.One
study recently estimated 17% of its native vegetation had been
destroyed.It is home to some 3,500 species of plants, 650 species of
birds and hundreds of species of mammals, reptiles and fish. Rare
mammals include the giant anteater, giant otter, giant armadillo,
jaguar and puma.

Deforestation
“There are many reasons why we
should save the Pantanal,” says Jose Luis Cartes from Guyra, “like all
the knowledge we would lose if it disappears.”For instance there are
more than 300 species of fish that we know very little about.”There are
some reserves and national parks there, but they only tend to exist on
paper. Deforestation there is very high,” he added.The Sid Templer
Reserve, as it is now known, covers 3,600 hectares (about 10,000 acres)
and there are plans to expand it to 10,000 hectares.Although the area
has been bought by World Land Trust, it is owned and managed by Guyra. 

[Author]

January 18, 2007 at 10:37 AM