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Good practice Imported

Paraguay's Environmental Services Law (Ley 3001/06) — Tradable Certificates for Forest Conservation

Paraguay · Asunción · See the Paraguay profile · See the Asunción profile

Evidence: Observational / pre–post Top 96% 20/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Paraguay's 2006 Environmental Services Law lets landholders earn tradable forest-conservation certificates, offset against taxes. By 2016 just 22 transactions covered 8,716 ha; a later study found the certified area offset under 10% of national emissions.

22
Certificate transactions since 2006 (to 2016)
8,716 ha
Area certified (to 2016)
~10%
Share of national GHG emissions offset by certified area
Paraguay's Environmental Services Law (Ley 3001/06) — Tradable Certificates for Forest Conservation

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
Ministerio del Ambiente y Desarrollo Sostenible (MADES); INFONA
Period
2006-present
Keywords
forestry, payments for ecosystem services, tax policy

Context

In 2006 Paraguay enacted Ley 3001, creating tradable Environmental Services Certificates that landholders earn for conserving forest, usable to offset property, income and agricultural taxes.

Results

A 2016 industry-association presentation reported 22 certificate transactions covering 8,716 ha since inception (not independently corroborated). A peer-reviewed assessment estimated certified area sequesters carbon equal to only ~10% of Paraguay's national GHG emissions, and that 2.58-3.34 million ha of certified land would be needed to offset half of national emissions.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Low (< €50k)
Time to results
Long (> 3 years)
Staffing & skills
Ministerio del Ambiente y Desarrollo Sostenible (MADES), INFONA

Conditions for success

  • scaling certified area far beyond current levels to meaningfully offset emissions
  • a public transaction registry for independent verification

Common failure modes

  • scheme remains marginal relative to Paraguay's deforestation pressure, particularly in the Chaco

Commonly funded by

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Data sources

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