History
Leaf cactus, Pereskia aculeata © Scott Zona, Flickr Creative Commons.
The size and reputation of the Reserve have grown since its inception in the 1980s.
Tentative beginnings
In the 1980s the original area of the Reserve (then much smaller than today) was the property of the World Bank. During its tenure some parts of the forest were selectively logged for tropical hardwoods.
In 1991, thanks to the efforts of many individuals and organisations (such as The Nature Conservancy), the area was purchased and passed to the Fundación Mbaracayú for management. At this time the Fundación Moisés Bertoni, a Paraguayan NGO involved in conservation throughout the country, undertook the management and protection of the Reserve.
Growing protection
With the help of private donations and the ceding of government controlled lands, the Reserve has grown from its original size. Between 1992 and 1994 approximately 6,000 hectares of grassland, the 'campos cerrados' known as Aguara Ñu, were incorporated into the area of the Reserve.
In November 2000 UNESCO designated the Río Jejui watershed, which includes the RNBM, as an international Biosphere Reserve, in recognition of its extreme biological and cultural importance on a global scale