CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

Growing urbanization continues to severely degrade natural ecosystem remnants due to intensive exploitation, unsustainable development, and lacking land use planning. In particular, impacts on watercourses are still considerable in many parts of the world, as in the Matanza-Riachuelo watershed (MRW), one of the most polluted in Argentina. It is dominated by one of the 27 worlds megacities (Buenos Aires) downstream, while in the upper basin agriculture almost completely replaced natural grasslands. In 2010 we started an investigation project in order to provide realistic solutions to reverse degradation in the MRW. We developed four lines of research: ecological restoration, landform rehabilitation, land use planning, and social perception. We analyzed satellite imagery and aerial photography, developed spatially explicit models in GIS, performed field surveys, and identified and interviewed key social actors. Main results were: riparian areas constitute an opportunity to restore degraded habitats and their level of degradation is in correspondence to the land use in the adjacent floodplain; periurban land use presents potential for recovery and environmental management acting as a buffer between urban and rural areas; quarry open pits, which are distributed mainly in the middle part of the basin, represent one of the major impacts on the physical environment and have potential for habitat creation; perception with respect to degradation, rehabilitation needs, and effective management measures vary widely among stakeholders. We discuss the potential and suitability of these findings as a planning tool for the decision making of 15 municipal authorities responsible for the watershed management.

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