Paraguay’s Ava Guarani Community Safeguards Yerba Mate Amid Climate Threats

The Ava Guarani indigenous community of Ka’aty Miri San Francisco, located in Capiibary, San Pedro, Paraguay, is safeguarding the traditional cultivation of yerba mate while protecting 400 hectares of native forest. Facing the dual threats of expanding monocultures and climate change, this community of 30 families considers yerba mate both a sacred and medicinal plant central to their culture and livelihoods.

Supported by the PROEZA project (Poverty, Reforestation, Energy, and Climate Change), the community has enhanced its cultivation and processing techniques for yerba mate. According to community leader Ariel Benítez, this initiative has strengthened their traditional production methods and enabled direct commercialization of their products, fostering economic resilience.

However, the community confronts major challenges, including prolonged droughts and exposure to pesticides from neighboring soybean plantations. Despite these adversities, they remain committed to ancestral practices. Remarkably, they have achieved a 99% success rate in planting over 1,500 yerba mate seedlings, a testament to their dedication and sustainable approach.

Luis Britos, a forestry specialist with PROEZA, highlights the community’s crucial role as a “green lung” in the Capiibary region. He praises their traditional methods, such as “torespira la ka’aguy” (“let the forest breathe”), practiced before planting. This ancestral wisdom is now complemented by modern technical support, which optimizes production without compromising the environment.

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Beyond yerba mate, the native forest serves as a «natural supermarket» for the community, providing food, medicinal plants, and other essential resources. Preserving this space is part of their broader strategy to resist the advance of monocultures, which have already displaced nearby communities.

The PROEZA project, funded by the Green Climate Fund and coordinated by Paraguay’s Ministry of Economy and Finance, demonstrates how indigenous communities can blend traditional knowledge with sustainable practices to combat climate change. Their efforts not only preserve biodiversity and cultural heritage but also offer a scalable model for resilience and ecological stewardship in the face of environmental challenges.

Artículo en español aquí.