By Gabriela Cerioli
BUENOS AIRES, Oct 15 2009 (IPS)

The Paraná River delta in eastern Argentina is the only one in the world that is not disappearing, and that is due to deforestation for cultivating soybeans, explains geologist Jorge Codignotto, a former member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, in this interview.

Argentine geologist Jorge Codignotto Credit: Gabriela Cerioli/IPS

“All of the deltas in the world are on the way to disappearing,” except for the one formed where the Paraná River runs into the Río de la Plata (River Plate) estuary, said Codignotto, who sat on the IPCC from 1999 to 2007 and has spent years studying Argentina’s coastal areas.

“By deforesting the Yungas jungle, in the northwest, in order to grow soybeans, the Bermejo River continues to generate more sediment that ends up in the delta. If that continues, in 2050 the delta will extend to Buenos Aires, and it will be polluted,” he said.

This is one example of the factors, in addition to climate change, that affect nearly 5,000 kilometres of shoreline – from the Rio de la Plata estuary to the Beagle Channel – that make Argentina one of the 25 countries with the longest coastlines in the world.

It is necessary to “diagnose” coastal erosion in a “holistic” way, and the government should regulate human activities in those areas, says Codignotto, who holds a PhD in geological sciences from the University of Buenos Aires, and is lead researcher for the National Council of Scientific and Technical Research.

TIERRAMÉRICA: What is the current outlook for Argentina’s coasts? JORGE CODIGNOTTO: The Argentine coast is affected by a broad phenomenon of erosion, which has been increasing since the 1970s.

This has normally been attributed to global warming, because as the planet heats up – the causes of which are being debated – the anticyclones (areas of slowly rotating high atmospheric pressure) move towards the poles, which means more frequent and more intense storms in more southerly areas that normally don’t have them, so there are more waves, more energy, and stronger currents in coastal areas.

But there is also an increase in erosion from human causes.

TIERRAMÉRICA: How does the rising sea level influence erosion? JC: Actually, the sea level rises just three millimetres per year, but the important thing is the domino effect: there are more coastal currents that cause erosion, and it is raining more in some places, and that carries soil towards the sea, which modifies ecosystems.

It is estimated that in 2025 there will be one billion more people on the planet and a notable shortage of food, because the key ecosystems will have collapsed. Ecosystems can adapt, but they need more time.

By 2025, the United Nations calculates that 85 percent of the world’s population will be living in coastal areas, which are inherently unstable and will suffer even more from human pressures.

And there is another problem: pollution. A 1,000 to 1,200-metre stretch of the Río de la Plata coast in this country is contaminated with mercury, cyanide, chromium, detergents, etc., from waste that is not treated because it would be very expensive.

Fourteen million people in this country drink water that comes from the Río de la Plata. At the rate the delta is advancing, it is going to reach Buenos Aires by 2050, with all its pollution.

TIERRAMÉRICA: How is erosion affecting the Argentine coast? JG: Erosion varies from area to area. On the Buenos Aires coast, concrete houses and coastal avenues have collapsed. That is basically money dumped into the sea out of ignorance. People build in coastal areas, but aren’t aware that the land moves in all directions and more so along the coasts.

It’s hard to understand that coastlines change. However, when the Spaniards reached the Río de la Plata, they sailed to Escobar, 50 kilometres north of what is now Buenos Aires. And 19,000 years ago, you could reach the Malvinas Islands (known by local inhabitants as the Falklands) on foot.

Another problem is flooding. The town of General Lavalle, in the bay of Samborombón (Buenos Aires province), is practically at sea level. It has tidal canals that fill with rubble and they sell off the plots. This, in a context of rising sea level, makes no sense.

TIERRAMÉRICA: In the city of Buenos Aires they added, on average, 20 hectares of land per year with coastal landfill since 1925. What do you think of these efforts to gain land from the river? JC: We should spend money on something that is more useful and economical, such as discouraging people from populating coastal areas.

TIERRAMÉRICA: Is it feasible to educate the population about these issues? JC: First we need legislation for rational land use. In the resort cities of the Buenos Aires province coast there are often streets perpendicular to the shore. When it rains and southeasterly winds come up, the runoff isn’t absorbed by the sand to prevent erosion, but instead ends up out at sea, leaving big channels on the beach – a phenomenon that is worsening due to the destruction of the sand dunes in order to facilitate access to the beaches.

In Villa Ostende, 365 kilometres south of the city of Buenos Aires, they designed broad, green areas along the coast that every so often have a depression for rainwater to accumulate and filter into the ground.

TIERRAMÉRICA: Do municipal governments have adequate solutions? JC: No, but one thing we do have is Decree 3202 on coastal management, which the province of Buenos Aires enacted in November 2006.

We are lucky that our Civil Code, with regard to the coasts, is based on the ancient Roman concept of the “tow line route.” Back then, a 35-metre wide strip along seas and rivers was reserved for public use, so that horses pulling tow lines could move boats that couldn’t use sails so close to land.

The Argentine coast cannot be privatised thanks to Dalmacio Vélez Sarsfield, author of the Civil Code. Although on occasion it has been bought off.

TIERRAMÉRICA: Is there any possible long-term solution? JC: Information with a holistic outlook is essential. There are many experts, but specialisation tends to narrow people’s focus. Specialists should integrate their studies with the broader context. And the government must establish regulations.

*This story is part of a series of features on sustainable development by Inter Press Service (IPS) and the International Federation of Environmental Journalists (IFEJ), for the Alliance of Communicators for Sustainable Development (www.complusalliance.org).

Excerpt:

To understand the link between global climate change and coastal erosion requires an integration of the otherwise reductionist specialization on the issue, says Argentine scientist Jorge Codignotto.

Argentine geologist Jorge Codignotto. - Gabriela Cerioli/IPS

“All of the deltas in the world are on the way to disappearing,” except for the one formed where the Paraná River runs into the Río de la Plata (River Plate) estuary, said Codignotto, who sat on the IPCC from 1999 to 2007 and has spent years studying Argentina's coastal areas.

“By deforesting the Yungas jungle, in the northwest, in order to grow soybeans, the Bermejo River continues to provide more sediment that ends up in the delta. If that situation continues, in 2050 the delta will extend to Buenos Aires, and it will be polluted,” he said.

This is one example of the factors, in addition to climate change, that affect nearly 5,000 kilometres of shoreline – from the Rio de la Plata estuary to the Beagle Channel – that make Argentina one of the 25 countries with the most coastline.

It is necessary to “diagnose” coastal erosion in a “holistic” way, and the government should regulate human activities in those areas, says Codignotto, who holds a PhD in geological sciences from the University of Buenos Aires, and is lead researcher for the National Council of Scientific and Technical Research.

TIERRAMÉRICA: What is the current outlook for Argentina's coasts?

JORGE CODIGNOTTO: The Argentine coast is affected by a broad phenomenon of erosion, which has been increasing since the 1970s.

This has normally been attributed to global warming, because as the planet heats up – the causes of which are being debated – the anticyclones (areas of slowly rotating high atmospheric pressure) move towards the poles, which means more frequent and more intense storms in more southerly areas that normally don't have them, so there are more waves, more energy, and stronger currents in coastal areas.

But there is also an increase in erosion from human causes.

TIERRAMÉRICA: How does the rising sea level influence erosion?

JC: Actually, the sea level rises just three millimetres per year, but the important thing is the domino effect: there are more coastal currents that cause erosion, and it is raining more in some places, and that carries soil towards the sea, which modifies ecosystems.

It is estimated that in 2025 there will be one billion more people on the planet and a notable shortage of food, because the key ecosystems will have collapsed. Ecosystems can adapt, but they need more time.

By 2025, the United Nations calculates that 85 percent of the world's population will be living in coastal areas, which are inherently unstable and will suffer even more from human pressures.

And there is another problem: pollution. A 1,000 to 1,200-metre stretch of the Río de la Plata coast in this country is contaminated with mercury, cyanide, chromium, detergents, etc., from waste that is not treated because it would be very expensive.

Fourteen million people in this country drink water that comes from the Río de la Plata. At the rate the delta is advancing, it is going to reach Buenos Aires by 2050, with all its pollution.

TIERRAMÉRICA: How is erosion affecting the Argentine coast?

JG: Erosion varies from area to area. On the Buenos Aires coast, concrete houses and coastal avenues have collapsed. That is basically money dumped into the sea out of ignorance. People build in coastal areas, but aren't aware that the land moves in all directions and more so along the coasts.

It's hard to understand that coastlines change. However, when the Spaniards reached the Río de la Plata, they sailed to Escobar, 50 kilometres north of what is now Buenos Aires. And 19,000 years ago, you could reach the Malvinas Islands (known by local inhabitants as the Falklands) on foot.

Another problem is flooding. The town of General Lavalle, in the bay of Samborombón (Buenos Aires province), is practically at sea level. It has tidal canals that fill with rubble and they sell off the plots. This, in a context of rising sea level, makes no sense.

TIERRAMÉRICA: In the city of Buenos Aires they added, on average, 20 hectares of land per year with coastal landfill since 1925. What do you think of these efforts to gain land from the river?

JC: We should spend money on something that is more useful and economical, such as discouraging people from populating coastal areas.

TIERRAMÉRICA: Is it feasible to educate the population about these issues?

JC: First we need legislation for rational land use. In the resort cities of the Buenos Aires province coast there are often streets perpendicular to the shore. When it rains and southeasterly winds come up, the runoff isn't absorbed by the sand to prevent erosion, but instead ends up out at sea, leaving big channels on the beach – a phenomenon that is worsening due to the destruction of the sand dunes in order to facilitate access to the beaches.

In Villa Ostende, 365 kilometres south of the city of Buenos Aires, they designed broad, green areas along the coast that every so often have a depression for rainwater to accumulate and filter into the ground.

TIERRAMÉRICA: Do municipal governments have adequate solutions?

JC: No, but one thing we do have is Decree 3202 on coastal management, which the province of Buenos Aires enacted in November 2006.

We are lucky that our Civil Code, with regard to the coasts, is based on the ancient Roman concept of the “tow line route.” Back then, a 35-metre wide strip along seas and rivers was reserved for public use, so that horses pulling tow lines could move boats that couldn't use sails so close to land.

The Argentine coast cannot be privatised thanks to Dalmacio Vélez Sarsfield, author of the Civil Code. Although on occasion it has been bought off.

TIERRAMÉRICA: Is there any possible long-term solution?

JC: Information with a holistic outlook is essential. There are many experts, but specialisation tends to narrow people's focus. Specialists should integrate their studies with the broader context. And the government must establish regulations.

In May, the bartering system will celebrate 14 years of new life in Argentina. After a peak in this form of trade following the country’s late 2001 economic collapse, today it has a lower profile, though it involves tens of thousands of people around the country. But despite its survival, economists question its long-term viability.

"Prosumers" at the barter club in the Chacarita neighbourhood of Buenos Aires Credit: Gabriela Cerioli/IPS

Some 500 barter clubs operate in Argentina. And although the number of people involved today is far below the three million people who sought support in bartering in 2002, spokespersons say there are twice as many people in the clubs now as there were last year.

In the clubs, people exchange clothing, school supplies, homemade food, household repair jobs in carpentry, bricklaying and electrical work, medical and dental services, tutoring and tourism, among other goods and services.

Organisers have seen a 50 percent rise in the number of barterers over the last year or so, coinciding with the beginning of a feeling of economic uncertainty linked to the conflict between the government and farmers over a hike in export taxes.

Because of this expansion, the country’s oldest barter club, created May 1, 1995, in Bernal, a southern Buenos Aires suburb, is moving to a bigger space.

“The relaunch will take place in the next few weeks,” announced Rubén Ravera, one of the founders of the Club del Trueque, or Global Barter Network (RGT) in Argentina. “It’s recommended that the number of participants at each location is no more than 100, because that’s the only way to establish face-to-face relations and build up trust between the members,” he said.

Ravera said it is difficult to measure the volume of trade. But “it’s been growing slowly since 1995. Barter agreements are made by phone, e-mail or in person,” he said.

In order for a barter market to function in a “multireciprocal” way, all participants must consume in the same proportion in which they supply goods and services. This is known as “prosuming”.

“That has an incredible effect on people’s self-esteem, especially among the youth and the homemakers, who can place value on abilities that had not been valued before,” Ravera said.

Belén Rodríguez, a woman in her thirties who has never had a formal job, initially prepared food and recycled clothing. “That work with my hands gave me the ability to create crafted items that I exchange for services,” she explained while attending to a hairstylist interested in her items.

Ángela Mariño appreciates “the simple contributions from people, which show warmth. The pastries aren’t always identical, the meat pies have that homemade crust, a sweater has a loose thread. Nothing is perfect, but everything is abundant,” she described.

But not everything is so “homemade.” This “prosumer” says that what she most gets out of the Club del Trueque is getting to know a group of young people who help her keep her computer updated.

People also come to the club as families. Fausto Torres and his family visit once a week. “The result is highly positive,” he said.

“We bring pies, croissants, empanadas, pastries and sweet breads that we trade for an unimaginable range of things, from food and beverages, cleaning supplies, household goods (batteries, flashlights, light bulbs, compact discs), clothing and even eyewear,” Torres said.

But isn’t the world now too globalised to return to this primitive form of trade focused on subsistence?

“This system has a future in today’s world to the extent that we are seeing with new eyes the attraction of cooperation. Barter is not synonymous with subsistence, or with separating from the economy. It is a complement in order to incorporate those who are excluded from the system,” says Horacio Krell, head of the Unión de Permutas de Argentina, an entity that promotes exchange of goods and services.

The return of the barter system would be possible, says Krell, through education and “revaluing a culture of work that promotes a form of capitalism sustained in the real economy and not on financial profits.”

In Ravera’s opinion, the inclusive model of the Club del Trueque has “enormous potential for developing the economies of small communities and curbing the impact of the approaching crisis.”

But the system is unviable in the long term, according to several economists interviewed for this article. The Ministry of Economy, meanwhile, did not respond to repeated attempts to obtain comment.

The concept of sustainable development has to do with the level of consumption, which is difficult to reduce, said Carlos Leyba, a professor at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA). “If we stopped consuming, the army of unemployed would grow,” he said.

Leyba, who heads the research team at the Strategy Centre for the State and Market, believes that analysing the return of the barter system belongs in the sphere of philosophy.

“It sounds like a big step backwards, because it happens when currency no longer makes sense. In a world that advances on the basis of international trade, with multinational corporations that fragment production and manufacture in different countries, physical compensation is impossible without money,” he said.

UBA economist Carlos Melconian, founder and director of M&S Consultores, a consultancy, was categorical in his reply: “Barter has neither a place nor a future.”

Consultant Roberto Cachanosky, a graduate of Argentina’s Catholic University, agrees. Barter “is a prehistoric mechanism… In the case of an international monetary collapse, any attempt to re-establish it would be temporary, very short-term, and a way out until the monetary system was rebuilt,” he said.

Professor Antonio Brailovsky, an economist and historian, introduced another dimension to the question.

“Barter functioned in Argentina at a time of emergency. But do people accept an economy without money, or do they prefer to be scandalously poor and handle some sort of currency? Managing money is related to identity, and is a very important aspect of culture,” he said.

Because of that, “a barter economy of poor people without money would be unstable,” said Brailovsky, a former assistant ombudsman for the environment in the city of Buenos Aires.

Microcredit social networks, by contrast, get around that instability, said Brailovsky. The pioneer in the global microcredit movement was the Grameen Bank of Bangladeshi economist Muhammad Yunus, winner of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize.

But against all predictions to the contrary, the barter clubs have not disappeared. And the reasons are not always about economics.

Ricardo Jordan has been a prosumer for many years. That is how he covers approximately a quarter of his basic needs. Of Scottish descent, he is a skilled artisan, but his current specialties are organic gardening and carpentry.

“When I arrived at the Club del Trueque, I had just lost everything: my job, my self-esteem and my dignity. I was dead,” he said. “But now I have found life again.”

*This story is part of a series of features on sustainable development by IPS – Inter Press Service and IFEJ – International Federation of Environmental Journalists, for the Alliance of Communicators for Sustainable Development (www.complusalliance.org).

The exchange of goods and services without involving money rises and falls in Argentina in inverse proportion to national prosperity, and is apparently far from sinking in the stormy waters of the globalized economy.
In May, barter will celebrate 14 years of new life in Argentina. After a peak in this form of trade, following the 2001 economic collapse, today it keeps a lower profile, though it involves tens of thousands of people around the country. Despite its survival, economists question its long-term viability.

In Argentina, there are some 500 “barter clubs” operating, no longer with the three million people who in 2002 sought support in this economic system. But promoters say there are twice as many in the clubs now as there were last year.

“El Club del Trueque” is a space for exchanging clothing, school supplies, homemade food, household repair jobs in carpentry, bricklaying and electrical work, medical and dental services, tutoring and tourism, among other goods and services.

Organizers have seen a 50-percent hike in the number of barterers since 2008, coinciding with the beginning of a feeling of economic uncertainty linked to the conflict between the government and farming unions about higher export taxes.

Because of this expansion, the country's oldest barter club, created May 1, 1995, in Bernal, a southern Buenos Aires suburb, is moving to a bigger space.

“The relaunch will take place in the next few weeks,” announced Rubén Ravera, one of the founders of the Club del Trueque, or Global Barter Network (RGT) in Argentina. “It's recommended that the number of participants at each location is no more than 100, the only way to establish face-to-face relations and reinforcing trust between the members,” he said.

Ravera said it is difficult to measure the volume of trade. But “it's been growing slowly since 1995. The barter agreement is made by phone, e-mail and in person,” he said.

In order for a barter market to function in a “multireciprocal” way, all participants must consume in the same proportion in which they supply goods and services. This is known as “pro-suming”.

“That has an incredible effect on people's self-esteem, especially among the youth and the homemakers, who can place value on abilities that had not been valued before,” Ravera said.

Belén Rodríguez, a woman in her thirties who has never had a formal job, initially prepared food and recycled clothing. “That work with my hands gave me the ability to create crafted items that I exchange for services,” she explained while attending to a hairstylist interested in her items.

Ángela Mariño appreciates “that simple contribution of the people that shows warmth. The pastries aren't always identical, the meat pies have that homemade crust, a sweater with a loose thread. Nothing perfect, but everything is abundant,” she described.

But not everything is so “homemade”. This “pro-sumer” recognizes that what she most gets out of the Club del Trueque is getting to know a group of young people who help her keep her computer updated. People also come to the club as families. Fausto Torres and his family visit once a week. “The result is highly positive,” he said.

“We bring pies, croissants, empanadas, pastries and sweet breads that we trade for an unimaginable range of things, from food and beverages, cleaning supplies, household goods (batteries, flashlights, light bulbs, compact discs), clothing and even eyewear,” Torres said.

But isn't the world now too globalized to return to this primitive form of trade focused on subsistence?

“This system has a future in today's world to the extent that we are seeing with new eyes the attraction of collaborative deals. Barter is not synonymous with subsistence, or with separating from the economy. It is a complement in order to incorporate those who are excluded from the system,” says Horacio Krell, head of the Unión de Permutas de Argentina, an entity that promotes exchange of goods and services.

The return of the barter system would be possible, says Krell, through education, “revaluing a culture of work that promotes a form of capitalism sustained in the real economy and not on financial profits.”

In Ravera's opinion, the inclusive model of the Club del Trueque has “enormous potential for developing the economies of small communities and containing the approaching crisis.”

But the system as unviable in the long term, according to the several economists interviewed for this article. The Ministry of Economy, meanwhile, did not respond to repeated attempts to obtain comment.

The concept of sustainable development has to do with the level of consumption, which is difficult to reduce, said Carlos Leyba, professor at the University of Buenos Aires. “If we stop consuming, the army of unemployed would grow,” he said.

Leyba, who heads the research team at the Strategy Center for the State and Market, believes that analyzing the return of barter belongs in the sphere of philosophy.

“It sounds like a big step backwards, because it happens when currency no longer makes sense. In a world that advances in function of international trade, with multinational corporations that fragment production and manufacture in different countries, physical compensation is impossible without money,” he said.

UBA economist Carlos Melconian, founder and director of M&S Consultores, was categorical in his reply: “Barter has neither a place nor a future.”

Consultant Roberto Cachanosky, graduate of the Argentine Catholic University, agrees. Barter “is a prehistoric mechanism… In the case of an international monetary collapse, any attempt to reestablish it would be temporary, very short-term, and a way out until the monetary system is rebuilt,” he said.

Antonio Brailovsky, economist, historian and university professor, introduced another dimension to the question.

“Barter functioned in Argentina at a time of emergency. But do people accept an economy without money or prefer to be scandalously poor and handle some sort of currency? Managing money is related to identity, and is a very important cultural aspect,” he said.

Because of that, “the idea of barter in an economy of poor people without money is unstable,” believes Brailovsky, former assistant ombudsman for the environment in the city of Buenos Aires.

In contrast to that instability are the microcredit social networks, suggested Brailovsky. Microcredit originated in the Grameen Bank as a long-term approach, a project led by Bangladeshi economist Muhammad Yunus, winner of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize.

But against all predictions to the contrary, the barter clubs have not disappeared. And the reasons are not always about economics.

Ricardo Jordan has been a pro-sumer for many years. That is how he covers approximately a quarter of his basic needs. Of Scottish descent, he is a skilled artisan, but his current specialty is organic gardening and carpentry.

“When I arrived at the Club del Trueque, I came from losing everything: my job, my self-esteem and my dignity. I was dead,” he said. “But now I have found life again.”