(ENVIADO) Native forests and development in Salta, Argentina. Visions, discourses, and practices

ECOLOGY AND SOCIETY

RESILIENCE ALLIANCE

Año: 2010

1708-3087

The northwestern Argentinean province of Salta still contains more than 6 million hectares of native forests. The majority being in two regions known as Chaco and Yungas. Land use conversion for agriculture, in particular soybean production, is putting pressure on these highly diverse ecosystems and threatening the survival of the indigenous population and small-scale farmers. In November 2007, Argentina’s Nacional Congress passed a law to regulate the management and conservation of native forests. This “forests law” was devised to put limits on deforestation and required each provincial government to implement a comprehensive and participatory land use planning process (LUPP). In this paper we describe and analyze, with a political ecology perspective, the LUPP carried out in Salta. We focus particularly on the conflicts derived from the different visions of development held by the interest groups involved. Some contradictions between discourses and practices are highlighted. While the law was being discussed, massive clearing authorizations were issued by the outgoing government of Salta. The new government, despite electoral promises, revised only a small part of these authorizations. As a consequence, indigenous people and local farmers filed a lawsuit against Salta’s government. In a historic ruling, the country’s Supreme Court provisionally stopped all deforestation activities in four departments of the province of Salta. The provincial government appealed the ban and the Supreme Court is due to deliver a final verdict soon. The case of Salta suggests that more inclusive development paradigms need to be taken into account to successfully deal with social and environmental conflicts. Multi-scale spatial and temporal analyses may help recognize differences of power and knowledge between actors and address increasing demand from international markets. Quantification of ecosystem services under different scenarios and a thorough analysis of the distribution of burdens and benefits among stakeholders can also provide a basis for more rational and equitable planning processes.