‘A cemetery of trees’: vast green expanses turned to dust as loggers plunder South America’s Gran Chaco

In the Gran Chaco forest, vast green expanses – home to jaguars, giant armadillos and howler monkeys – have turned to fields of dust. The Gran Chaco is South America’s second-largest forest after the Amazon; its 100m hectares (247m acres) stretch across Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil and Bolivia. While the Amazon is afforded international scrutiny and publicity, environmentalists say the Gran Chaco is quietly disappearing. Photograph: AlamyThe Gran Chaco is home to a wide range of wildlife, including maned wolves, ocelots, tapirs, armadillos, capybaras and howler monkeys. Officials believe there are only about 200 jaguars left in Argentina, and fewer than 20 in the Gran Chaco.