Saving San Rafael National Park

The 72,849-hectare national park is the largest remaing block of pristine Atlantic Forest remaining in Paraguay, but also its most threatened.  San Rafael has a complex legal history as a public protected wild area. In 1992, immediately prior to the Rio “Earth” Summit, the Paraguayan Government declared San Rafael as an “Area Reserved for a National Park”. Despite a number of subsequent attempts to designate San Rafael as an actual national park or managed resources reserve, the only designation which remains legally valid is this designation. With this status, and with governmental resources lacking, conservation management of San Rafael has been ineffective.

San Rafael has been widely recognized as the top conservation priority in Paraguay. More bird species (over 424) have been recorded at San Rafael than at any other site in Paraguay. Twelve globally threatened bird species have been recorded there, including the Endangered Vinaceous Amazon Amazona vinacea and Black-fronted Piping-guan Pipile jacutinga, both endemic to the Atlantic Forest. San Rafael is also the only site in Paraguay where both the Near Threatened Harpy Eagle Harpia harpyja and Crested Eagle Morphnus guianensis still occur. Four globally threatened large mammals have also been reported there, along with charismatic megafauna such as Jaguar (Panthera onca) and  Tapir (Tapirus terrestris).

This biodiversity is further enhanced by the presence of extensive areas of natural grasslands and wetlands, which represent the northernmost extent of the Mesopotamian Grasslands Ecoregion and contain good numbers of threatened species endemic to this ecoregion.

Finally, San Rafael is also important for a number of local communities. The Mbya Guarani indigenous communities have been marginalised by lack of land tenure and depend on their native forests for many services such as provision of forest products and other cultural and ecosystem services.


A few years ago, the Pro Cosara Foundation established San Rafael Ecological Station, with the stated aim to not only provide a scientific basis to conservationist claims as to the unique value of San Rafael National Park, but to bring its plight to world attention. With the help of a large number of volunteers, donors and researchers who have joined the cause, it is hoped that the tide of public opinion can be changed and that the inhabitants of the San Rafael area will come to realize the value of the ecological treasure that is their home and fight to ensure that future generations may also benefit from it.

Now, the NGO Guyra Paraguay (Paraguayan Bird Association) has donated a 500-hectare parcel to the Secretariat of the Environment (SEAM) to help establish a "real" national park with public lands. This is a very small, but important step for the park. Hopefully, more efforts will be made to obtain more properties.