Trinational Biodiversity Corridor

Trinational Biodiversity Corridor
Corredor Trinacional de Biodiversidade
IUCN category V (protected landscape/seascape)
The Iguazu Falls are in the center of the proposed corridor
Coordinates	25°35′32″S 54°35′37″W / 25.592344°S 54.593522°W / -25.592344; -54.593522Coordinates: 25°35′32″S 54°35′37″W / 25.592344°S 54.593522°W / -25.592344; -54.593522
Area	570,000 hectares (1,400,000 acres)
Designation	Ecological corridor

The Trinational Biodiversity Corridor (Portuguese: Corredor Trinacional de Biodiversidade) is a proposed ecological corridor that would link protected areas in the Alto Paraná Atlantic forests biome in Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina.

The proposed corridor was first discussed in 1999 in the Symposium on Research and Biodiversity in Umuarama, PR. The idea was refined later that year at the 3rd Workshop on Traditional Initiative and Sustainable Use of Inland Atlantic Forest in Misiones, Argentina. The Trinational Green Corridor Initiative was established in 1999 with elected national representatives of the protected areas, national and international community and private business conservation organizations, rural development and community organizations and representatives of international organizations and scientific institutions. The purpose was to assist the many players involved in using and managing the natural resources of the Parana Forest region to work together.

In 2000 the meeting organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the Atlantic Forest NGO Network established the final design. The corridor would encompass conservation units in Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina in the Upper Paraná ecoregion. The concept was that the institutions responsible for these units would work together on a medium to long term plan to connect the units by gradually restoring native vegetation in small regional corridors. The units alone would total 570,000 hectares (1,400,000 acres). The Trinational Commission on the Interior Atlantic Forest and the Green Corridor Initiative was set up to address action plans developed at various workshops in the early 2000s. The members were one representative from each national commission, a representative from the WWF and a representative from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

WWF has been helping develop a joint strategy for the corridor, and in 2014 partnered with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to develop benchmark studies of transboundary parks, and of the Iguaçu National Park in particular. In July 2014 the IDB approved funding for the Iguaçu National Park in Brazil to include activities based on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (BES) to counter deforestation drivers in the area, with a view to expanding the approach to conservation units in Argentina and Paraguay.