Instituto Forestal Nacional del Paraguay

What Instituto Forestal Nacional del Paraguay does

Instituto Forestal Nacional del Paraguay (INFONA) is the national forestry authority of the Republic of Paraguay, operating as a public government institution under Laws 422/73 and 3464/08. Its core mandate is the administration, promotion, and sustainable development of Paraguay's forest resources. INFONA issues forest use permits, registers forestry industry professionals and consultants, regulates forest product trade, enforces the Zero Deforestation Law, and coordinates fire prevention under the Integral Fire Management Law. The institution serves forest industry professionals, small agricultural producers, indigenous communities, trainee technicians, general citizens, and international institutions.

INFONA's operational technology stack centers on a geospatial data integration platform that consolidates native forest coverage, agricultural crop data, forest plantation information, and land-use change permits for national monitoring. Key components include the Portal de Bosques y Usos de la Tierra (an open geospatial data portal integrating native forests, crops, and land-use permits with 98.7% thematic accuracy on soybean maps), the Sistema Nacional de Monitoreo Forestal (national monitoring producing annual coverage reports), the Sistema de Alertas Tempranas de Deforestación (early deforestation detection), the Inventario Forestal Nacional 2026 (national forest inventory), and the Mapa de Combustibles (fuel load mapping for fire-risk evaluation). Complementary platforms include the Registro de Consultores Forestales Habilitados (public consultant registry), the Portal de Trámites (procedures portal), and the MECIP internal control framework.

INFONA's business model is predominantly government-funded through annual budget allocations, supplemented by transaction-based fees from forestry permits and registrations, nominal seedling sales from the Vivero Central (priced from 900 Guaraníes per unit), and international cooperation funding such as the $50 million Green Climate Fund disbursement for the Paraguay + Verde project. Distribution is direct-to-consumer across a national footprint comprising the San Lorenzo headquarters, seven regional offices (Central, Cordillera, San Pedro Sur, Caazapá, Alto Paraguay, Boquerón, Presidente Hayes), and two CEFOTESFOR training centers in Alto Paraná and Itapúa. The institution generates no commercial revenue in the conventional sense and operates exclusively under public-sector funding mechanics.

Name

Instituto Forestal Nacional del Paraguay

Legal name

Instituto Forestal Nacional del Paraguay

Website

https://infona.gov.py

Company type

Public

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Paraguay's national forestry authority, regulating forest resources through permits, geospatial monitoring platforms, technical assistance, training centers, and reforestation programs for industry, producers, and citizens.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Forestry Regulation Services

NAICS

Support Activities for Forestry (1153), Administration of Conservation Programs (92412), Administration of Environmental Quality Programs (9241)

SIC

Forestry (800)

akta.pro primary industry

Forestry & Public Lands Administration (State/National Forests) (BPAIAMAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Environmental Permitting & Impact Assessment (EIA/NEPA) (BPAIAMAK), Stakeholder Engagement, Indigenous/Tribal Consultation & Social Impact (SIA) (EUAHAAAH), EIA/ESIA Documentation & Technical Studies (Air/Water/Noise/Traffic) (EUAHAAAC)

Keywords

• Forestry regulation
• National forest monitoring
• Geospatial land use data
• Forest seedling production
• Forestry technical education

Headquarters

HQ city

San Lorenzo

HQ country

Paraguay

HQ region

Latin America

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Forestry permits and registrations: Fees collected for registering forest industry professionals (individual and corporate), issuing forest product guides, and processing land-use change permits under Law 422/73 and Law 3464/08.
2. Seedling sales (Vivero Central): Sale of native and exotic forest seedlings to the general public, with prices starting from 900 Gs per unit. Also provides donations to public institutions, educational entities, small producers, and non-profit organizations.
3. Government budget allocation: Institutional operations funded through annual government budget allocations as Paraguay's national forestry authority.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Instituto Forestal Nacional del Paraguay (INFONA) is the national forestry authority of Paraguay, responsible for regulating, promoting, and enabling the sustainable development of forest resources. It issues forest use permits, registers forest industry professionals, operates the Vivero Central nursery producing native and exotic seedlings, delivers the Superior Forest Technician training program through CEFOTESFOR centers, and runs the national geospatial forest monitoring platforms that integrate native forest coverage, agricultural crop data, and land-use change permits for traceability and deforestation control.

Product overview

INFONA's product and service portfolio consists primarily of web-based platforms, public registries, and educational programs. The core digital platform is the Portal de Bosques y Usos de la Tierra (with associated GIS Viewer platforms), which integrates geoespatial data on native forests, agricultural crops, and forest plantations for traceability and deforestation monitoring. Supporting this are the Sistema Nacional de Monitoreo Forestal, a national forest monitoring system generating coverage and land-use data; the Registro de Consultores Forestales Habilitados, a public registry of authorized forestry professionals; and the Portal de Trámites, for submitting permits and product guide requests. Physical offerings include the Vivero Central (central nursery) supplying tree seedlings for sale and donation, and the Carrera de Técnico Superior Forestal, a two-year technical program delivered at two CEFOTESFOR centers. The institution also operates the MECIP internal control framework portal for institutional management. These offerings function as a coordinated ecosystem of data platforms, regulatory registries, nurseries, and training programs under a single institutional umbrella.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• CEFOTESFOR: Centros de Formación de Técnico Superior Forestal — two training centers operated by INFONA in Alto Paraná and Itapúa departments for the career of Técnico Superior Forestal (Higher Technical Forest Technician).
• Portal de Bosques y Usos de la Tierra
• Sistema Nacional de Monitoreo Forestal del Paraguay
• Plan Nacional de Restauración Forestal
• Paraguay + Verde
• Paraguay Forestal para el Mundo

Products and services

• Portal de Bosques y Usos de la Tierra Web-based geospatial platform that integrates data on native forests, agricultural crops, and forest plantations with land-use-change permits, enabling analysis of deforestation-free commodity production and traceability of land use across Paraguay.
• Vivero Central (Central Nursery) Tree nursery producing native and exotic forest seedlings available for sale and donation to institutions, schools, small producers, and non-profit organizations, located at the central office in San Lorenzo.
• Carrera de Técnico Superior Forestal Two-year technical superior forestry program offered at CEFOTESFOR centers in Itapúa (Pirapó) and Alto Paraná (Ciudad del Este), with 2,200 classroom hours and 500-hour mandatory internships, providing free accommodation and meals for admitted students.
• Sistema Nacional de Monitoreo Forestal National forest monitoring system that generates geospatial data on forest coverage, deforestation rates, land-use changes, soybean cultivation zones, and climate outlooks used for fire prevention and policy decisions.
• Registro de Consultores Forestales Habilitados Public registry of individual and corporate forestry consultants registered with INFONA under Law 422/73 and Law 3464/08, who are authorized to engage in forest harvesting, industrialization, trade, and reforestation activities.
• Portal de Trámites Government procedures portal for submitting forestry-related requests, including permits, product guide requests, credentials, and technical assessments.

Quantifiable outcome

• 44.3% of Paraguay's territory covered by forests (17,727,756.6 hectares) as of 2022
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers14 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

15 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Administración Nacional de Energía (ANDE)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 23 May 2024Specific cooperation agreement for sustainable development, co-management of Yguazú and Acaray lake watersheds, and management of the Yguazú Natural Reserve. INFONA provides forest seeds for public arborization projects and restoration of waterway protective forests, proposes technical trainings, and promotes conservation work in the reserve area. The agreement formalizes cooperation that began in 2021.
• Unión Europea (EU)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 March 2024EU Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries Virginijus Sinkevicius visited Paraguay and praised INFONA's Portal de Bosques y Usos de la Tierra as more advanced than most countries globally. EU co-organized the international seminar on innovation and sustainability in forestry EFTP with INFONA as a collaborator.
• Universidad Federal de Viçosa (UFV)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMemorandum of Understanding promoting scientific, cultural, and educational exchange. First exchange student Lucas Fabián Contrera González from CEFOTESFOR Alto Paraná is completing a 500-hour internship at UFV's Forest Engineering Department in Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil, from March to July 2024.
• World Resources Institute (WRI)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration through the Mesa de Finanzas Sostenibles and WWF Paraguay to organize the 'Innovación Tecnológica y su Rol en la Evolución de los Mercados' conference, where INFONA presented its Portal de Bosques y Usos de la Tierra to the financial sector. WRI participates in transparency and green finance initiatives supporting Paraguay's forest data systems.
• WWF ParaguaycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-organizer with Mesa de Finanzas Sostenibles and WRI of events presenting INFONA's forest data platforms to the financial sector. WWF Paraguay co-organized the 'La Hora del Planeta' campaign event in Paraguay.
• Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Medio Ambiente (PNUMA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPNUMA serves as the GCF-accredited entity leading the Paraguay + Verde project, coordinating with MADES and working alongside INFONA as an execution partner along with STP and MAG.
• FAO (Organización de las Naciones Unidas para la Alimentación y la Agricultura)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTechnical partner in the Paraguay + Verde project execution, providing technical expertise alongside UNDP.
• Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo (PNUD)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTechnical partner in the Paraguay + Verde project execution, providing technical expertise alongside FAO.
• Cooperativa VolendamminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for field visits and opinion leader tours on forestry development and fire prevention in Colonia Volendam, San Pedro department. Supported by the European Union.
• Instituto Paraguayo del Indígena (INDI)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerArticulated collaboration for socializing National Forest Inventory results with indigenous communities in the Chaco region.
• Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganadería (MAG)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerExecution ally in the Paraguay + Verde project; joint work with INFONA on beekeeping training and agroforestry support for producers in Caazapá.
• Secretaría Técnica de Planificación para el Desarrollo Económico y Social (STP)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerExecution ally in the Paraguay + Verde project alongside INFONA, MADES, and MAG.
• Ministerio de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sostenible (MADES)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLead ministry in coordination with PNUMA for the Paraguay + Verde project, with INFONA as an execution ally.
• GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGermany's development agency contributed experts to the International Seminar on Innovation and Sustainability in EFTP and Green Jobs in Paraguay.
• Embajada BritánicaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMentioned in INFONA's tagged partnerships for cooperation activities.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• U.S. Forest Service (USFS): The largest national forestry agency globally, with comparable monitoring, fire management, and forest stewardship mandates. Provides a benchmark for institutional scale and digital monitoring sophistication.
• Dirección Nacional de Bosques (Argentina): Argentina's national forests directorate within the Ministry of Environment, administering the National Law of Minimum Budgets for Environmental Protection of Native Forests. Regional peer with shared Gran Chaco landscapes.
• Servicio Forestal Brasileño (SFB) / IBAMA: Brazil's federal forestry and environmental enforcement bodies; serve as a sibling national forestry authority in a much larger Amazon biome, with comparable NIST-style monitoring mandates and deforestation enforcement.
• Corporación Nacional Forestal (CONAF) – Chile: Chile's national forestry corporation, responsible for forest policy administration, fire management, and forest resource monitoring. Closest direct peer as a Latin American national forestry agency with comparably broad mandate including nurseries, training, and monitoring.

Regional players

• Instituto Nacional Forestal (INAFOR – Nicaragua): Nicaragua's national forestry institute, similarly responsible for permits, monitoring, and reforestation. Comparable in scale and operational model to INFONA, providing a useful comparator for forestry-agency operations in Latin America.
• Instituto Nacional de Bosques (INAB – Guatemala): Guatemala's national forestry institute with mandate over forest management, incentives programs (PINPEP/PROBOSQUE), and MRV. Comparable in role and Latin American operational context.

Others

• Global Forest Watch (WRI): World Resources Institute's open-source platform for global forest monitoring. The Portal de Bosques y Usos de la Tierra data systems are technically comparable to WRI's country-level datasets and operate as a complementary national node to the global GFW backbone.
• FAO Forestry Department: UN body providing global forestry policy, National Forest Monitoring partnerships, and technical assistance to national forestry agencies. Direct technical partner of INFONA through Paraguay + Verde and a useful peer for international forestry technical leadership.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/instituto-forestal-nacional

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Instituto Forestal Nacional del Paraguay