Deforestation and environmental crisis in modern Argentina

ZARRILLI ADRIAN GUSTAVO

Guimaraes

Congreso; World Congress of Environmental History; 2014

Universidad de MInho

Native forests are those which have developed with no human intervention and, unlike crops, and like the soil and water, they are vital systems, with the capacity for self-preservation and self-regulation. They show a maximum complexity, involving tangible and intangible indispensable benefits for the continuity of life on the planet, such as microclimates, shelter for the fauna and the flora, protection for water and soil supplies, a source of energy, a housing offer and the meeting of other needs which come together with man .Between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th, Argentina had approximately 30% of its continental surface covered by forests, about 100 million hectares. The demand for primary products from the native forest caused, at that time, the technological advance in cattle management, an increase in the agricultural surface and, in consequence, the expansion of the railway system, caused an important reduction of the forest surface. Added to this, the arising needs brought about by the First World War, when our country was the main producer of tannin extract, should be born in mind. Towards the middle of the 20th century, the forest surface of the country did not reach 35 million hectares.