Restoring Forage Grass Production to Support the Pastoral Economy of Arid Patagonia

AGUIAR, MARTÍN R. Y MARCELA E. ROMÁN

Restoring Natural Capital. Science,Business, and Practice

Año: 2007; p. 112 - 121

Sheep husbandry is a key component of the Patagonian economy and society yet a major cause of natural capital degradation; without restoration efforts, negative sheep population growth rates will continue. Our restoration plan focuses on helping one forage species to recover, but other species (plants and animals) will also benefit. Guanacos compete with sheep, and the establishment of a rotational system will open grazing opportunities for them as well. This technology should now be tested with field trials before passing it on to farmers. It was assumed that managers of the three farm types would be willing to invest in restoration, though analysis of the financial and economic impacts indicates that only the larger farms are best suited to adopt this technology. Type B farms will probably need financial support to make the transition, although it is expected that this group could initiate a restoration process. Contrary to other subsidies that are paid continually (for unemployment or wool prices) a restoration subsidy is paid for a limited time, yet it represents a long-term benefit. Smaller farms (type A) are of the highest concern since they cannot economically support a family indefinitely, and the short-term pressure forces management to be opportunistic and generally environmentally destructive. The planning horizon should be widened so that sheep husbandry is not the sole economic activity, or farmers could implement changes cooperatively to reduce the negative effects of small farm sizes. Although restoration costs exceed the benefits in farm types A and B, the increase in natural capital will be enjoyed by future generations beyond the twenty-year analysis. From the government perspective, the good news is that the analysis indicates that grazing restoration is viable in much of the area (i.e., type C farms). The bad news is that most of the farms are too small to undertake restoration without financial support. Moreover, these farms have more limiting inputs, such as land, sheep, and operational capital. This is not a new dilemma, and free market solutions such as land abandonment followed by land concentration under a single ownership will probably increase social problems. Whereas ethics guide individual behavior, policy guides societal behavior. It is necessary to develop an agreed-upon policy that tackles “investment in natural capital” (Ekins, Folke, et al. 2003). The focus of our analysis was marketable products, yet other ecosystem services will be provided by restored ecosystems. Hence, it appears necessary to start long-term negotiations encompassing both socioeconomical and biophysical perspectives to achieve a holistic view of agroecosystems. An analysis that includes marketable products will increase farmer support for a policy that promotes natural capital restoration and its maintenance.