(Introduction):

The National System of Protected Wildlife Areas of Paraguay should harmonize the conservation objectives of the country's biodiversity with criteria of effectiveness. With more than 25 years of validity, the information referring to the availability of the management plans was not systematized; therefore, there is lack of information required for the proper management. (Objective): To analyze the historical availability of management plans of the protected areas and the factors that condition their development. Protected areas were characterized in terms of the historical availability of management plans from 1973 to 2018. We used the consultation of key informants, the systematization of information, the design of the research database, documentary analysis, workshops with experts and mapping of the results. (Results): It was determined that 42 protected areas registered a management plan either previously or at present, of which 14 correspond to the public subsystem, 18 to the private subsystem and 10 to the special subsystem. It was detected that the elaboration of management plans requires sufficient financing for their preparation and publication, considerable technical base information and time. Another aspect detected in this research indicates the difficult access to management plans, despite their nature as a public document. (Conclusions): In most cases, the protected areas of Paraguay did not register management plans until 2005, after this year financial opportunities and scientific technical capacity at country level allowed the increase of them. Aspects that should be enhanced for the strengthening of the national conservation system.