Investigation unveils largest deforestation case in Paraguay Atlantic Forest

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – A journalistic investigation by U.S. organization Inquire First published on Thursday, through the Bajo La Lupa project, reports that a Brazilian entrepreneur devastated a large part of a territory that houses the Atlantic Forest in Paraguay over almost 10 years, in violation of the law.

Entrepreneur Ulisses Rodrigues Teixeira was indicted by the Prosecutor’s Office in 2015 for clearing and destroying vegetation on the Paso Kurusu farm, in the Department of Canindeyú.

An investigation reveals that a Brazilian entrepreneur dedicated to soy production, deforested 20,000 hectares of the Atlantic Forest in Paraguay between 2011 and 2020. The Atlantic Forest is an ecosystem second only to the Amazon and covers 10 departments in the Eastern region, including Canindeyú.

According to the investigation, nearly 20,000 hectares were stripped of trees between 2011 and 2020, despite a national law in force since 2004 that protects the Atlantic Forest and bans logging.

In 2017, Rodrigues Teixeira received the largest fine ever imposed by the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development (MADES) for the deforestation of 12 properties he owned during that time. He was fined US$216,700, an amount he has not paid to date.

Rodrigues Teixeira is one of the largest soybean producers and settled on a 21,834 hectare property located within the Atlantic Forest. He has been denounced on several occasions for logging.

The Bajo La Lupa journalistic team confirmed the property’s critical environmental situation, which is currently being used for plantations.

In addition, the team heard reports from the Kavaju Paso indigenous community, which alleges that the company XT Paraguay, owned by the entrepreneur, incorporated at least 123 hectares of the community to the Yby Porã farm.

In an interview, indigenous leader Salvador Esquivel stated that the claimed land was fenced off years ago by XT Paraguay, which is now using the land for soybean plantations.

Former environmental authorities and specialists pointed out that Rodrigues Teixeira does not usually comply with the environmental requirements established by the government and has been accumulating complaints against him for the last 21 years.

However, the extensive report indicates that he is not the only one involved in deforestation in the area, although he is one of the largest deforesters in the Eastern Region.

It also stresses that Paraguayan courts have not sentenced anyone to imprisonment for deforestation in all this time. Neither are there enough environmental officials to enforce deforestation regulations in Paraguay and no judges specialized in environmental law.

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