Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Regulations for Glacier Protection Law Criticised

By - - and IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

BUENOS AIRES, Mar 7 2011 (IPS) - The regulations adopted to enforce Argentina’s new glacier protection law do not guarantee the urgently needed protection of sensitive areas where mining activities are already taking place, warn environmental activists. Environmental organisations had been pushing for the establishment of regulations for the law. But the regulations adopted through an executive branch decree do not define priority areas where mining projects should be monitored, a shortcoming criticised by Greenpeace, the Environment and Natural Resources Foundation, Friends of the Earth and other organisations.

The decree “does not guarantee sufficient protection of glaciers,” Greenpeace activist Hernán Giardini told Tierramérica. Moreover, “there has been a delay in the review of mining projects,” he added, referring to the massive Veladero and Pascua-Lama deposits in the western Argentine province of San Juan.