Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Activists Challenge Land Management Plan

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

BUENOS AIRES, Sep 5 2011 (IPS) - Environmental organizations in Argentina are demanding that the land management plan adopted by the northeastern province of Corrientes be declared unconstitutional, because it threatens native forests. The plan was adopted by decree and not by law, without the required social participation, and it contains "serious incongruities," the activists say.

Forests that should be protected have been included among forested areas classified as eligible for clearing or transformation, María Eugenia Di Paola of the Environment and Natural Resources Foundation told Tierramérica.

In 2007, Argentina adopted a law on the protection of native forests, but its implementation in each province depends on the adoption of land management regulations developed through a participatory process.

Most of the country’s 23 provinces have complied with this requirement, but the participatory processes in two of them – Corrientes and Córdoba – have been challenged in court.