¿Cuál es la situación de la Ley de Bosques en la Región Chaqueña a diez años de su sanción? Revisar su pasado para discutir su futuro

Abstract

What is the status of the Forest Law in the Chaco Region ten years after its enaction? Reviewing its past to discuss its future. In a complex environmental, productive and socioeconomic scenario, on November 28th, 2007, the National Act N°26.331 of "Minimum Standards for the Environmental Protection of Native Forests" (known as the "Forest Law") was sanctioned in Argentina with the purpose of protecting native forests at the national scale. In this article, we aim to critically synthesize the available information about this law ten years after its sanction from an approach that takes into account environmental, economic and social aspects. In particular, we characterize the performance of this law in the Chaco Region in different dimensions, identify its main challenges and describe a series of proposals that from the science and technology sector can contribute to its (re)design and implementation in the context of the revisions of the Provincial Native Forest Land Use Planning Programs. In order to accomplish these objectives, we integrated information available from different sources, such as laws and regulations (national and provincial), scientific literature, reports from government agencies and NGOs and newspaper articles. The Forest Law installed in the public opinion of our country the problems related to the loss of native forests and has positioned itself as the main national instrument for forest conservation. Although deforestation rates lowered in the Chaco Region, there is no clear evidence that this reduction was due to its application. The Forest Law in the Chaco Region presents a series of challenges to improve its performance in terms of its effectiveness, equity and social legitimacy. In this paper, we present ten observations that emerge from the review carried out. On the other hand, linked to these observations, we outline a series of research and action proposals for enhancing the performance of the law.

Are Ecological Modernization Narratives Useful for Understanding and Steering Social-Ecological Change in the Argentine Chaco?

“…Although deforestation rates have been reduced in the past years, the Argentine Chaco is far from undergoing a forest transition. The long-term effectiveness of the main factors contributing to reduced deforestation, i.e., declines in soybean prices and implementation of the Forest Law, is threatened by economic and political fluctuations [29][30][31]76]. Hence, the priority is to reduce deforestation through a better implementation of the Forest Law and by complementing it with other policy instruments (e.g., supply chain management, [77]).…”

“…Between 2000 and 2012, annual crops and pastures expanded from the sub-humid fringes towards the semiarid core of the region, producing annual deforestation rates of 1-1,5% (global average: 0.2%, [27]) and leading to the loss of natural vegetation over 20% (16 million ha) of the region [28]. In 2007, the social and environmental impacts of agriculture-driven deforestation led to the enactment of the National Forest Law (Ley 26.331) which mandated provincial governments to design and implement land-use zoning plans and prohibit further deforestation in forests of medium and high conservation value [29]. Despite being an unprecedented effort for environmental protection, the high lobby power of modern agribusiness and the low political interest of provincial governments to enforce the law, determine that illegal deforestation and continued socio-environmental problems are severe after 10 years of the enactment of the Forest Law [30,31].…”

A tipping point for agricultural expansion? Technological changes and capital accumulation in Argentina's rural sector

“…Socio‐political contestations became widespread after the political opportunity opened by the virulent conflict held over export taxes between the government and agribusiness organizations in 2008 (Giarracca, Teubal, & Palmisano, ; Gras, ). With the debate on the environmental consequences of soy expansion installed in the public agenda, new regulations restricting the opening of new lands for cultivation were launched (Aguiar et al, ).…”

“…Socio-political contestations became widespread after the political opportunity opened by the virulent conflict held over export taxes between the government and agribusiness organizations in 2008 (Giarracca, Teubal, & Palmisano, 2008;Gras, 2012). With the debate on the environmental consequences of soy expansion installed in the public agenda, new regulations restricting the opening of new lands for cultivation were launched (Aguiar et al, 2018). 8 It is worth recalling that in the case of GM soy seeds, "the transnational company Monsanto could not patent the [transgenic] event in Argentina, contrarily to what happened in most other countries in the world, including Brazil.…”

Policy lessons from spatiotemporal enrollment patterns of Payment for Ecosystem Service Programs in Argentina

“…In recognition of the need to curb high rates of deforestation, Argentina’s legislature passed an innovative law (Native Forest Law 26331; henceforth Forest Law) in 2007 that established a minimum annual federal budget for environmental protection, enrichment, restoration, conservation, and sustainable management of native forests and the environmental services they provide (García Collazo et al, 2013, Aguilar et al 2018). Under the Forest Law, the federal government sets general requirements for environmental protection and funds a national-level PES program that distributes funds to the provinces.…”