PUBLIC SAVES PARK.

Paraguayan citizens recently squashed a government plan to sell or redevelop 124,000 acres of the country's largest park.

The government recorded borders on paper when it created the 2-million-acre Defenders of the Chaco National Park in 1975. But when the Rural Welfare Institute, a government agency, surveyed the park in August 1999, it excluded thousands of acres included on the original map, according to reports from The Rainforest Alliance.

That's because although the government recorded the park's borders, local people continued to live, log, and hunt there. The Ayoreo, an indigenous group, lives on the land, and the dry, hot acreage provides habitat for jaguars, giant anteaters, and giant peccaries, an endangered wild pig. The land also includes one of two fresh water supplies in the area.

The move surprised locals and environmentalists, who decided to fight the survey. Ten conservation groups worked to educate the public, gaining support from U.S. foundations and agencies. Forty-five Paragunyan citizen organizations joined the fight and gathered 12,500 signatures in 15 days to protest the change.

The public outcry convinced the government that it should respect the park's original borders. Now some local leaders want to take further steps. Marciano Barreto, director of Paraguay's National Parks and Wildlife Service, suggested now may be the time to join the Chaco with Bolivia's Kaa'lya park. That would create a nearly 15-million-acre protected area.