Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: A Warning on Dune Disappearance

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

BUENOS AIRES, Jul 15 2006 (IPS) - Sixty percent of the sand dunes have been lost in the last 35 years because of increased human activity in the eastern Argentine city of Puerto Madryn, on the Atlantic coast, says the Patagonia Natural Foundation. Of the remaining dunes, “more than half exhibit an advanced state of degradation,” with changes in flora and fauna.

Gabriela Degorgue, head of the study presented July 7, stressed for Tierramérica that the dunes “give an identity to the landscape, but they also play a fundamental role in preserving the beach; they protect the cost from erosion and are habitat for unique species.”

“Without protection measure in the short term, there is a risk that there won't be any dunes left to protect,” she said, urging an end to construction on the beach, restrictions on heavy machinery, and installation of special routes to reach the resorts.