Latin America
Latin America covers a land area of approximately 19.2 million square kilometres. According to the IUCN, it is home to 40% of our planet’s biodiversity, 25% of its forests and 26% of its freshwater.
It encompasses a vast variety of landscapes, from lush tropical forests to hyper-arid deserts, coastlines that teem with marine life, the subantarctic steppes of Patagonia, and the longest mountain chain on Earth.
Chester Zoo works in four countries (Mexico, Brazil, Bolivia and Chile), supporting local organisations in their efforts to protect a great diversity of wildlife, including giant anteaters, tapirs, Andean bears, freshwater fish, amphibians and cacti.
The challenges
• All five of the key causes of biodiversity loss worldwide (land degradation, climate change, pollution, unsustainable use and invasive alien species) are rising in Latin America.
• The greatest of these challenges is habitat loss, reduction and fragmentation, nearly half of which is the product of the growth of commercial agriculture for exportation (e.g., soya, livestock, fruits, vegetables and flowers).
• Coastal and marine areas are also under pressure, mainly from tourism, urbanisation, pollution and aquaculture.
Our projects
Find out more about all of the projects we support in Latin America.
