New social conflicts and Environmental Citizenship in Northeast Argentina

FERRERO, BRIÁN GERMÁN

Toronto

Congreso; XXIX International Congress of the Latin American Studies Association; 2010

Latin American Studies Association (LASA)

Rural populations have been excluded from both conservation and development policies in Northeast Argentina until recently. Squeezed between large-scale, intensive production systems and preservationist measures restricting their local resource use practices, these populations have gradually been expelled from productive soils, deprived from legal access to natural resources, and turned into poachers in their own living areas. Their relative invisibility in national policies led also to their limited participation in management and monitoring systems while inequality and social injustice increased in rural areas. In the last decade, hybrid policies to integrate development and conservation with social inclusion goals have been implemented by the national government. This paper will focus on two sustainable initiatives – at the Yabotí Biosphere Reserve and at the buffer area of the Iguazú National Park. The analysis will address the potential and limitation of these initiatives to promote equal-based collaboration among actors with different level of power and to achieve multiple (usually conflictive) goals.