{"id":13737,"date":"2020-03-30T10:14:00","date_gmt":"2020-03-30T09:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.iucn.nl\/?p=13737"},"modified":"2021-12-06T11:39:25","modified_gmt":"2021-12-06T10:39:25","slug":"tackling-deforestation-in-paraguay-an-unlikely-partnership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.iucn.nl\/en\/story\/tackling-deforestation-in-paraguay-an-unlikely-partnership\/","title":{"rendered":"Tackling deforestation in Paraguay: an unlikely partnership"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Big banks and local civil society organisations. An unusual match for tackling deforestation? Quite the contrary. Yet to ensure optimal effectiveness, it\u2019s essential both parties keep their eyes on the prize: a common goal. In a bid to learn more about this powerful duo, we spoke to Dutch development bank FMO, about the collaboration in Paraguay.<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Header photo: Linda Broekhuizen of Dutch Development Bank FMO \u00a9 IUCN NL<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Home to a wide variety of species such as the anteater, tapir and river otter, the Chaco region in Paraguay covers over 100 million hectares of dry, tropical forest. But the habitat is under threat. One of the most sparsely inhabited areas in South America, approximately 250,000 hectares of forest are cut down per year, mainly for cattle rearing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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A major part of this deforestation is conducted outside of the law by cattle and agricultural farmers. Government regulation is problematic because not always having the means to monitor who and who doesn\u2019t have permission. In 2012, FMO decided to finance a number of local banks in Paraguay who among others are active in agroforestry.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Responsible financing<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Linda Broekhuizen, Chief Investment Officer of FMO, states: “We believe it is important that our customers, the local banks, are committed to stop illegal deforestation by their customers. With four banks, we started setting up guidelines for environmental and social management. If their customers do not adhere to these guidelines, then in time the financing can be stopped. These banks have voluntarily joined forces with fourteen of the seventeen regulated banks in Paraguay in a roundtable: the Mesa de Finanzas Sostenible. For them, the fact that almost all banks joined was essential in order to reduce the risk of customers moving to another bank for fear of the guidelines. This way, we have created a level playing field.” From the offset of this initiative, WWF Paraguay and FMO have worked in union to develop guidelines for the banks.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Pioneering<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n
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This is good news for the Chaco region, because the more banks joining the Mesa, the better. But FMO and the other banks didn’t act alone. When it came to accessing data to investigate who is cutting down trees illegally, civil society organisations were able to make invaluable contributions with their knowledge and satellite data.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Linda: ‘From the start, we have proposed to work with civil society organisations that have relevant data. This enables the banks to better monitor and analyse the activities of their customers.’<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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