Since its establishment in 2010, the Laguna Blanca Natural Reserve has stood out as a rare remnant of wilderness in Paraguay’s galloping advance of soy plantations and ranches. Evenly split between Cerrado and Atlantic Forest ecosystems, it has the largest number of reptile and amphibian species of any of the nation’s reserves. It is internationally recognized as an Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA). And it is a place of significant scientific research, with 14 newly discovered animal species, including the Tropidurus lagunablanca, a critically endangered golden-brown and orange lizard, described for the first time in February by a scientist from the American Museum of Natural History. But the 814-hectare (2,011-acre) private reserve in the eastern department of San Pedro is now... [Log in to read more]
