Paraguay's Ministry of Environment and Social Development (Mades), led by Minister Rolando De Barros Barreto, formally opposed a bill before the Chamber of Deputies that would amend Law No. 5723/2016, allowing hydrocarbon prospecting and exploration activities within Médanos del Chaco National Park, a publicly owned protected wilderness area.
The opinion, submitted to the Legislation Committee, includes analyses from the General Directorate for Biodiversity Protection and Conservation (DGPCB) and Mades' Legal Advisory Directorate. The documents cite Law 352/94 on Protected Areas, which prohibits the occupation of land declared as protected wilderness, and the National Environmental Policy (PAN), which establishes the principles of non-regression and conservation, preventing setbacks in already achieved sustainable development standards.
Mades had previously asked Congress not to support similar proposals, which were eventually shelved. The bill was introduced by Deputy José Rodríguez Maciel and is seen by environmentalists as a serious threat to the park's ecosystem, which is home to species such as the jaguar and the guanaco, as well as strategic water sources like the Yrenda aquifer and the headwaters of the Timane River.
The Coalition for Forests, a group of civil organizations and environmental networks, expressed total rejection of the bill, warning that its approval would create a dangerous precedent, undermining the principle of environmental non-regression and contradicting international commitments such as the Paris Agreement and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. The coalition also noted that the measure could jeopardize progress on the Mercosur-European Union agreement due to the European bloc's environmental requirements.