meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Science Weekly

The destruction of Gran Chaco, forgotten sister of the Amazon rainforest

Science Weekly

The Guardian

Science

4.21K Ratings

🗓️ 19 May 2022

⏱️ 14 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

From deep inside Gran Chaco, a dry tropical forest in Argentina one and a half times the size of California, comes a wake-up call for the world’s forests. We’ve lost more than a fifth of this incredibly biodiverse region since 1985. And it’s just one of many precious carbon-trapping ecosystems being lost to unrelenting deforestation. Six months ago in Glasgow, world leaders at Cop26 pledged to end and reverse deforestation by 2030. While destruction continues apace in Brazil and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, other countries such as Indonesia offer glimmers of hope. Madeleine Finlay speaks to biodiversity reporter Patrick Greenfield about what his trip to Gran Chaco showed him, what’s at stake around the world, and what’s needed to turn things around. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

This is the Guardian. Well, if you're not this wall through you could over plan the living area.

0:13.3

So I'm thinking burnt oka paired with some terracotta times, vary in season right now.

0:17.6

When it comes to making big decisions for how we improve our homes, we rely on the advice of experts. So shouldn't it be the same for the way we heat and

0:24.7

power them at EDF waste specialists in low-carbon technology for homes? We've installed thousands

0:29.6

of air source heat pumps solar panels and batteries across the country and we also have useful

0:34.0

content to help you make the right decision for your home search edf energy

0:37.6

dot com slash energy specialist to find out more more. It was a long car journey, seven hours. We started on Tarmac and ended up in these dusty roads with huge holes in them that went deep into the forest.

1:05.6

This is biodiversity and environment reporter Patrick Greenfield who recently went on quite an

1:11.7

incredible trip to South America.

1:16.1

This is a dry tropical forest. These areas are full of cacti and trees with tiny leaves

1:22.1

to keep water in with big spikes on their bark and

1:25.6

they're incredibly biodiverse so there are giant ant eaters, armadillos, lots of

1:31.1

birds and it's one of the few remaining areas in Argentina where there are

1:35.3

jaguars.

1:41.3

Before you book your flight, let me say, Paradise is not without its dangers.

1:47.0

Where I stayed was by this big lagoon, where four biologists live, and it's quite extreme lifestyle there

1:55.6

cooking pizza on an open fire one night and one of the biologists was telling me about how she'd had

1:59.8

half of her foot eaten off by piranhas when she was swimming in the water there.

2:04.8

I mean I'm happy to have been but it's not the kind of lifestyle that I could deal with all year round.

2:16.0

Somewhat unsurprisingly this place is known as L Impenetrable. It's a national park in the Grand Chaco region of Argentina,

2:21.0

but despite its astounding and often unwelcoming biodiversity, it's also been very heavily

2:27.9

deforested.

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Guardian, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Guardian and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.