Paraguayan president urges Senate to reject the exploitation of a protected area

Paraguayan President Mario Abdo Benítez urged the Senate to reject the bill that allows the exploitation of the Médanos del Chaco National Park, a protected area of the country, to extract the hydrocarbons.

“We urge the senators of the Nation to reject the bill that threatens the preservation of this ecosystem,” said the president in a video posted on his social networks.

Abdo Benítez emphasized that this national park has “ecological and cultural wealth” and highlighted that it is “home” to several indigenous communities that depend on its natural resources for their subsistence.

“Exploitation of the park for hydrocarbon extraction would have a negative impact on all these areas, in addition to going against our national and international commitments as a country,” the head of state warned.

The president’s statements refer to a legislative proposal to modify two law articles that declare the Médanos del Chaco National Park as a protected wilderness area under the public domain.

The norm, which dates from 2016, expanded from 457,479 to 605,075 hectares, the extension of the park, which banned the exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons in that area.

Deputy Edwin Reimer presented the bill from the National Republican Association – Colorado Party, which claimed that the only objective is for the country to stop depending on other nations, such as Bolivia.

The Chamber has already approved the legislation to be dealt with on March 23 in the Senate of Deputies.

The director of the World Conservation Organization (WWF) in Paraguay, Lucy Aquino, also indicated in an interview with the portal Última Hora that she expects the Senate to reject the bill “which puts the Médanos del Chaco National Park at risk”.

Aquino warned that if the exploitation is approved, it will be “an environmental, social and economic setback”.

The WWF Paraguay representative explained that the reserve could not be touched for anything other than scientific studies or tourism.

She also recalled that Unseco declared this area of northern Chaco a biosphere reserve.

The Coalition for the Forests, which brings together dozens of environmental, indigenous, and rural organizations, companies, and networks, is demonstrating in front of the National Congress to demand that the senators reject the project.

With information from Sputnik