"UNESCO Designates Chaco Biosphere Reserve"

Men on the Chaco Biosphere Reserve
prepare to perform a traditional dance.
Read the full article in USAID Frontlines. (December 2005)

A Great Example of Cooperation between USAID and UNESCO!

"The U.N. Education Social and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) approved the designation of almost 7.5 million hectares of forest lands as the Chaco Biosphere Reserve this June.

"The Paraguayan government had been moving since 2001 toward making the Chaco a biosphere reserve. Since then, USAID, though the Fundacion DeSdel Chaco and The Nature Conservancy, has helped prepare the scientific work required to prove that an area should be a reserve.

"Researchers made maps of the soil, vegetation, and topography of the Chaco, a massive plains region on the border of Paraguay, Brazil, Argentina, and Bolivia. They also researched the local infrastructure and social setting, considering things like the construction of an administrative office and control posts and operating costs for the reserve.

"USAID also helped local governments to promote public participation, transparency, organization, and decentralization. Several workshops were held educating the public about the Chaco. And USAID helped with the writing and submission of the proposal to UNESCO."