One of the main highlights of this quarter was the official launching event of the Ka’aguy Retã; Bosques y Desarrollo (KRBD) Project. The event was carried out on March 9 at the Villa Morra Suites Hotel, and was attended by 44 distinguished guests from both the public and private sector, such as USAID, INFONA (Instituto Forestal Nacional), SEAM (Secretaría del Ambiente) and UNA (Universidad Nacional de Asunción) representatives, Chaco ranchers and landowners, and colleagues from partners and non-partners organizations. It is worth highlighting the presence of the Alto Paraguay Governor, Justo Fernandez; the USAID Paraguay Director, Rose Rakas.  María del Carmen Fleytas, Director of WCS Paraguay, opened the event addressing a few welcoming words to the audience, followed by Mrs. Rakas and Mr. Fernandez.

Later on, Mrs. Fleytas introduced both the WCS organization and the KRBD Project to the public, emphasizing the project objectives, scope and operational strategies, as well as the main achievements reached to the present date. Mr. Angel Brusquetti, WCS’s Chief Operations Officer, highlighted the concept of pilot projects and their importance to achieve the goals of KRBD and showcase alternative, innovative and sustainable development, which can then be replicated elsewhere. Mr. Brusquetti also pointed out the experiences carried out so far in three sites and how they are regularly monitored. Additionally, two producers whose properties are running these pilot projects, Mr. Daniel Franco and Mr. Massimo Coda, pointed out their reasons for participating and supporting such initiative.

The renowned economist Manuel Ferreira presented an interesting review of the current situation of the cattle and beef value chain in Paraguay. Then, partners and associates GUYRA, IDEA, FDSC, WWF and FMB briefly described their role and actions within the project. Lastly, the Fundación Yvyporã, which is also collaborating with an ongoing pilot project with the indigenous community of Mistolar, presented their work and objectives in the Chaco.

The launching event was a good opportunity to divulge and publicize the goals and scope of the KRBD Project; an audiovisual material was generated and presented to the public, and leaflets and merchandizing were distributed. Both the launching event and the KRBD Project were also broadcast throughout national and local press media.

http://www.abc.com.py/edicion-impresa/suplementos/abc-rural/presentan-proyecto-kaaguy-reta-bosques-y-desarrollo-383838.html
http://www.fepama.org/boletin/60/tema01.php