Photo: Paul Jeffrey for CWS

The indigenous peoples of the Gran Chaco region are spread across nearly 400,000 square miles of central South America, spanning parts of three countries--Argentina, Bolivia and Paraguay.  Longstanding racism, exclusion and unsustainable development models have deprived them of their economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to own lands they traditionally inhabited.

CWS and five local partners in the region have formed the Integrated Support Program for the Defense and Promotion of the Rights of Native Peoples of the Gran Chaco -- a coordinated effort to defend and promote the rights of the native peoples of the Chaco.

Now, indigenous communities are gradually gaining access to land and developing livelihoods via training in sustainable agriculture, seed bank development, improved goat and hog raising, and heightened focus on education, among other exciting initiatives.

Photo: Paul Jeffrey for CWS

Photo: Paul Jeffrey for CWS

Gran Chaco region   Juan Carlos Ireyu fishes the Pilcomayo River near Villamontes, Bolivia. CWS is partnering to assist indigenous communities in the Gran Chaco region of South America as they develop sustainable agriculture and fishing, improved livestock raising, and a heightened focus on education.

Argentina   Pascuala Gomez, a Guarani indigenous woman, is standing proud.  After eight years working together, the Guarani community of Vinalito has received title to 10,131 acres (about 16 square miles) of their traditional lands.  Land rights are a focus of the CWS- supported Chaco Initiative.

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