Between 1990 and 2010 Argentina lost 15.5% of its forest cover, or around 5,393,000 hectares according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations. In a world of ever-shrinking forests even on tree can make a difference. So when the municipal government of San Isidro decided to tear up the Bosque Alegre without so much as a word beforehand, it inevitably brought forth an outcry from local activists.

The 4-hectare public park is one of the last coastal forests found in the province of Buenos Aires and now half of it is gone. The tranquil town of San Isidro is suddenly not so quiet anymore. The activists are battling the municipal government, which is headed by Gustavo Posse, for the remaining green space.

On 10th May 2011 Posse signed an agreement, which put the forest in the hands of the Club Atlético San Isidro. Soon the calls of more than 200 species of animals changed into the roars and whines of chainsaws as trees came tumbling down. Before anyone could do anything half of the trees lay on the ground leaving a massive gape of where they used to stand.

However, activists haven’t given up hope and now armed with more than 5,000 signatures they are fighting for what remains of the Bosque Alegre.

The Indy decided to hop onto the train and travel to San Idsidro to find out what the locals think about the issue. Portraits by Diego Espinosa.

Dora Enceña, 47, housewife, San Isidro

“For me forests are very important and it’s just terrible that they’ve cut down [half] the forest. We need to preserve the forests for many reasons. It is important that communities have green spaces because it is a place where people can go to relax and enjoy themselves in a quiet area. It is also good for the environment and in general the atmosphere of a city. It was very wrong that the government didn’t tell us beforehand what they were doing. They should have asked the city their opinion or whether or not we wanted this to happen. We have a right to know what is happening to out public spaces, especially the forests. Towns need forests and green spaces, there is no other way of putting it, we need them. As for whether or not the activists will be successful I am not sure, I don’t know how they can do it.”

Ricardo Pelfort, 67, retired, San Isidro

“This is a government that is very privatised. It is a government that favours private corporations over everything else. There is no interest in maintaining anything that does not make a profit. They don’t care about the trees. They don’t have any interest in protecting them if cutting them down will eventually earn them money. It’s sad because the trees are a symbol of life, they grow here along the river or in the middle of the city and they help clean the environment. There is no life without them. They clean the water and the air and we need both of those to live. Many people don’t have another place to go and relax and enjoy nature in the middle of the city. We need public green spaces like this. People who have a lot of money can go to the closed parks but if you don’t have money where are you going to go? It’s really sad what the government has taken away from its people.”

Marisol Sota, 25, store sales rep, San Fernando

“I do not agree with the decision of the government to cut down the trees. It took them so many years to grow and now the government has just come along and cut them down. It is very bad. We need trees to clean the air in our atmosphere. We need them to change the carbon dioxide into oxygen, they are absolutely necessary especially in a city. It is important to have these green spaces so that all the poison that gets pumped into the atmosphere from cars is turned into oxygen. Unfortunately, when it comes to the activists I am not sure if they can win against a government. They aren’t the first group to try to stand up against them and most people are unsuccessful. But now it is not important whether or not the public was informed before the government cut them down. What is important now is the remaining trees. We need to focus on them and not what has happened, we can’t change that.”

Dario Deschamps, 35, Tren de La Costa employee, Tigre

“What the government did I believe is really bad. They should have spoken with the neighbours who live in this community. Whenever they want to modify something they should have to talk to the residents. The people who live here have a right to green spaces that are free to the public. They should have a right to go somewhere green with their children but the government’s only interest is money. Today they don’t think about what is healthy and safe but instead of money. It is a disrespect of the environment and the general public. There are green spaces in the greater city of Buenos Aires but there are not that many anymore. There is an urban explosion and because of this we are losing spaces to offices and housing, it is the same story in Tigre. For many reasons we need these large green spaces. We need to respect the local fauna and flora as well, but this will totally modify it. How can people learn about it and learn to respect it if the government doesn’t? I think this fight is important because it is a fight for the environment and the neighbours rights.”

Edith Robles, 50, Tren de La Costa employee, Boccar

“I think it is bad. The trees help us breath, we need them for the oxygen that is necessary for us to live. We contaminate the air and they clean it for us, and then we just chop them all down. We need green spaces, the entire planet needs trees, we need them to live. How can it be put any simpler? They didn’t make this decision public and I think that is very wrong. They should have spoken to the public to find out what our opinion was of cutting down the forest. Then they should have made a decision, but only after asking the people who live here. I also agree with what the activists are doing. I don’t think it’s too later. They can still save the trees that are still standing and just in general bring more awareness to the entire issue of deforestation.”

An unprecedented trial took place in Cordoba yesterday to prosecute two agricultural workers for environmental contamination in the area. Two men have been sentenced with three-year prison terms for the use of agrochemicals endosulphin and glyphosate in the barrio of Ituzaingó Anexo. Rural producer Francisco Parra and the person responsible for the chemical application, Edgardo Pancello, were sentenced yesterday in the Cordoba Criminal Court. Producer Jorge Gabrielli was acquitted in the same hearing.

The trial, which began two months ago, brings to a close a ten year struggle against the impacts of spraying in the local community. So far, 200 cases of cancer have been discovered in the barrio, 100 of these fatal. In a survey of 142 children, 114 had traces of agrochemicals in their bodies.

The court deliberated yesterday for nine hours before delivering a verdict of a suspended sentence of three years in prison for both Pancello and Parra. They men are being prosecuted for two cases of fumigation in 2004 and 2008 which contravened Cordoba’s Agrochemical Law Nº 9164.

The law prohibits the spraying of endosulphin and glyphosate within a radius of 1,500 and 500 metres of urban populations. Parra and Pancello are accused of spraying within the barrio of Ituzaingó Anexo, putting the population at risk of severe health impacts.

Both men have had their licences to work with agrochemicals removed as a result of the trial. Parra will be forced to undertake ten hours a week of community service and will have his licence removed for “eight years for the use of agro-chemicals.” Pancella, who was flying the plane spraying the chemicals will be unable to work for ten years and will also be forced to undertake community service.

Parra’s lawyer, Juan Manuel Aráoz said yesterday that they are likely to appeal the decision. He said that while they are awaiting the grounds for the decision, to be released on 4^th September, they will probably appeal the decision “taking into account the fact that this crime is authorised by the National Food and Health body as well as other national organisations.”

Pancello’s lawyer claimed he saw “no serious argument which destroys the presumption of innocence of the client.”

The lawyer for the plaintiff group, Miguel Martinez, said yesterday that people should understand that “people had been fighting for twelve years,” though said he recognised the value of the precedent for this type of case. It is the first time that those responsible for polluting the environment with agrochemicals are prosecuted.

“This trial will be punishing as a crime something which was previously only considered a failure,” said Martinez.

The community struggle against the impacts of agrochemicals resulted in the creation of the Madres de Ituzaingó. Founder Sofia Gatica said yesterday she has “nothing to say”

“Who will return us the health of our children?” she said.

The municipal government in Cordoba had already declared the population in the barrio of Ituzaingó Anexo in a health emergency. The case was elevated to the courts when it was discovered the area was contaminated with a lethal cocktail of chemicals.

With more than a million species facing extinction, people around the world lacking safe drinking water, and glaciers melting at an alarming rate, the environment is nagging the minds of many, but not enough.

So the organisers, producers, and filmmakers hope to change that attitude here in Buenos Aires with this year’s Green Film Festival.

If a Tree Falls

“Increasingly more people are taking [the environment] into account. People are interested in the topic, but they do not involve themselves in something concrete,” says Astrid Hoffman, the executive producer of the Green Film Fest.

The international film festival highlights movies from around the world that take a look at environmental issues.

Clean Bin Project

“The films we select attract people who are already involved in the issue but also those who know nothing about it. We look for varied programming, documentaries, animation, fiction, and movies for kids. The most important thing is that there is equilibrium between the message of the film and its visual appeal,” says Hoffman.

The festival is taking place from 16th to 22nd August at Cinemark Palermo, Beruti 399. Each day movies will play from midday to midnight.

The movies look at varying environmental issues including deforestation, fuel, electricity, and meat consumption to name a few.

‘If a Tree Falls’, by director Marshall Curry, tells the captivating and yet haunting story of one of the members of the Earth Liberation Front (ELF). The documentary follows Daniel McGowan as he plots the burning of various public buildings including a horse slaughtering plant, an SUV dealership and a US$12m Vail, Colo., ski lodge. The film about the FBI named “domestic terrorists” won the Sundance Film Festival Documentary Editing Award and includes images that burn themselves into your memory.

On a lighter note, ‘The Clean Bin Project’ films the competition between Grant Baldwin, the director of the film, and Jen as they try to live for one year without producing any waste. The two don’t buy anything that would need to be thrown into a trashcan, so no packaging, boxes, bags, etc. While maintaining a lighter spirit the movie looks at the sobering underbelly of the garbage catastrophe all over the world: the Pacific Garbage Patch is an area of ocean the size of Texas where garbage outnumbers the plankton six to one. The hard-hitting facts create the perfect balance and although Jen and Grant sometimes wonder whether or not they can actually make a difference, they follow through with their plan and realise just how much one person can do.

Play Again

‘Play Again’ promises to be one of the most interesting films at the festival. Director Tonje Hessen Schei puts the spotlight on children in his compelling documentary about their disassociation with nature. With almost 90% of a child’s time spent indoors one quote sums up the entire message of the film: “What they will not value they will not protect and what they will not protect they will lose.”

Finally, among the many must-see documentaries at the festival is ‘The Island President’. The film, directed by Jon Shenk, takes a look at former Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed and his crusade to save his country from the dangerous effects of global warming. The tiny island nation in the middle of the Indian Ocean is under threat of sinking due to rising sea levels. The film goes with Nasheed as he plunges under water for local government meetings and raises his voice in international environment councils to grab the attention of the rest of the world.

The Island President

Overall the festival is set to welcome even more guests than last year’s 5,000 with some fantastic and captivating movies.

The event kicks off today with a bicycle tour to the cinema where Hoffman and her team will introduce two of the contributing directors, Josh and Rebecca Tickell, who directed ‘Fuel, Freedom’ and ‘The Big Fix’.

“We are a city that still has many outstanding issues in terms of sustainability,” says Hoffman. “We hope that the festival leaves people thinking and encourages them to change their everyday actions in order to create a better world.”

Tierra-i real time satellite imaging reveals rapid deforestation throughout Latin America, and estimates that nearly 250,000 hectares of forest are lost in Argentina alone every year. Deforestation is particularly a problem in the northern provinces, home to the Argentine part of the Gran Chaco forest. As farmers have found soy to be more lucrative than cattle, traditional crops are traded for the profitable bean.

The Argentina Independent hits the streets to find out what the locals think about deforestation. Do you think that deforestation is a significant concern? Why is a problem in Argentina in particular?

Photos: Agus Carini

Susana, 41, Administrative Assistant, San Martín

Yes, it is important. More than anything because of everything that it has to do with oxygen itself, and when we consider how it has contributed throughout the years to the destruction of the ozone layer…One can sense that the climate has changed, and now winters are no longer the same winters, and summers are not the same summers, either…I speak from my own understanding, because sometimes there are things that one does not fully understand, but one can perceive…

Maybe the reason that deforestation is a big problem in Argentina would have to do with the regulations, that the regulations are not well formed or that there is no legislation that covers the area well at this moment…. For me it must have to do with this, that the legislation is not managing to cover everything that has to do with natural reserves… there could be other undercurrents that one doesn’t know about.

Pablo, 20, Mechanic, Palermo

Yes, it’s important, because to cut down trees in an effort to get more lands is crazy, I don’t know the percentage of lands that they have taken in order to make furniture, things like that, but yes, it should be.

It’s such a big problem in Argentina because we have a lot of land. There are other countries where it’s not as big of a problem because they have less area. But for example, they also take lands from tribes.

The forests allow us to breath; without them, we couldn’t breathe. It’s important to have them, definitely for this reason, but also because I like green spaces. When I go to the country, I tell you – I love Buenos Aires, but when I go to Juaní, it’s completely different….it’s beautiful.

Alberto, 48, Stone Mason, Berazategui

Yes, I think that deforestation is certainly a problem. The climate has changed, there are days that are so cold in the middle of summer that we have to bundle up. It’s the same in the winter; this past week, there was a polar wind and then it rose to 24 degrees.

It may be that the problem is that the politicians have only recently taken note of the issue, not much importance is given to protecting the forests. We cut down twenty trees, and not one is planted to replace the twenty. They only remember to plant again when the fields are bare.

That’s why today many people are against the planting of soy, [which] is at once a step forward and a step backwards, because it ruins the soil. Where you plant soy, you can’t then go plant other grains. Because there has to be a process to make the earth fertile again, in order to plant grains such as wheat and barley.

Camila, 20, Promoter, San Fernando

Yes, it seems to me that it is a concern…it seems to me that they should inform people a little more, because I, obviously, am not well informed, but I know that deforestation is a problem. Or, better put, that they inform people a little more, so that people can be aware and can realise that it is really bad.

Deforestation is a problem here because here are many cities, there are many buildings, and the little green now isn’t anything more than the plazas, and the few green spaces we have, we can’t take advantage of them often.

These green spaces are important so that people can take advantage of the free time they have, to at least spend some time in a green area, now that we have so much city, streets, cars, noise; when one wants pass a little time in peace, to study, share mate with friends, play the guitar.

Agustín, 23, Unemployed, Pilar

Yes, deforestation is definitely a topic of concern, because trees are extremely important in the equilibrium of the environment, the ecosystem. We’re outside of nature’s harmony. This disconnection causes various problems.

I am not very familiar, but I know – because of Greenpeace’s campaigns more than anything, perhaps – that there is a lot of deforestation in the north, in Missiones, in Entre Ríos, in Formosa… It’s not good to lose even one hectare of forest a day; a hectare is a lot, and a lot more than that is being lost.

One time, I was traveling in the mountains in the south. It was a lovely trip, I was alone, with the birds and the trees. And after climbing for three hours I came upon a logging field. It was rather sad; I had travelled looking at all of the nature, all of the force of nature, and the harmony, and it was all dead there, murdered.

Latin America’s vast forests are rapidly disappearing. They have come to represent yet another quickly diminishing artery of the continent’s many ‘open veins’. Their fertile land is being converted at an increasingly alarming rate for the purposes of large-scale agribusiness, namely, soy.

Images of deforestation in the wild Chaco. (Photo: Greenpeace)

Louis Reymondin is the man behind a new satellite imagery and ground processing system, Terra-i, mapping deforestation across South America.

Reymondin, a Swiss native, is a third-year PhD candidate in the Department of Geography at King’s College of London and has been working as a visiting researcher at the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), whose headquarters are based near Cali in southwest Colombia, for the last five years. During this time he developed Terra-I from scratch.

The complex system detects land-cover changes resulting from human activities in near real-time, producing updates every 16 days. It currently runs for the whole of South America.

“So far the system has shown that deforestation has increased in Caquetá, Colombia by 340% since 2004, and the Gran Chaco region of Paraguay, the second most forested area in South America, has lost over a million hectares of forest.”

Deforestation in Argentina

According to Reymondin, “In Argentina, Terra-i has performed habitat status monitoring every 16 days from the 1st January 2004. During the past eight years, it has detected a cumulative habitat loss of 1,955,419 hectares, equivalent to an annual national loss rate of 244,525 ha/year.” To give an idea of scale, that is roughly an area the size of Luxembourg lost each year.

Deforestation is centred in the north of the country where its largest forest, and the continent’s second largest, following only the massive Amazon, lies.

“The provinces of Santiago del Estero and Salta were the most heavily impacted, having 590,094 hectares and 516,069 hectares converted respectively between 2004 and 2011.”

Map of habitat loss in Argentina, Terra-i detection.

The Gran Chaco spreads over three countries: Argentina, Bolivia, and Paraguay. As defined by data provided by the Organization of American States (OAS), the “Gran Chaco Americano” biome covers approximately 1,000,000 km² of South America and encompasses the central-north region of Argentina (53% of the total area of the Gran Chaco and 22% of the country’s surface area).

According to Reymondin, the South American Gran Chaco is a mosaic of habitats. It is a hotspot of biodiversity on the continent and one that is becoming increasingly threatened.

The data coming from Terra-i is especially pertinent as it attempts to isolate the deforestation resulting from human activity.

“The Terra-i outputs are of course not noise [error] free and we cannot guarantee that every single pixel that has been detected is the result of human activity, nor is Terra-i detecting all the events of deforestation that occurred since 2004.”

That said, Reymondin has included many special equations to ensure it is the best data available: “… we have implemented a range of methodologies to reduce the effect of noise, such as cloud cover, and to filter land cover changes that are not human-caused, or at least not directly, such as floods and drought. We can therefore say that the majority of the detections that we observe can be attributed to human activity.”

Why is the Chaco Disappearing? 

Perhaps the most obvious driver of change is the blanket of soy that has been rapidly spreading over the continent since the 1990’s.

Changes in global markets have expedited this process in the new millennium, especially in Argentina. A country with a huge farming component, the rolling pampas of grazing cattle typically associated with the Argentine countryside are being replaced by industrial farms growing soy, now a much more lucrative crop for any farmer.

The romantic vision of ranch life remains important in Argentine culture, but the economic equations involved in the agriculture business have changed in recent years. The expansion of soy farming is driven by US ethanol production and a global interest in biofuels; prices for soy continue to break records.

Soybean farming has been rapidly spreading over the continent for the last ten years. (Photo: Greenpeace)

Some agricultural analysts say that Argentine soybean farming is now several times more profitable than cattle ranching.

It is these profitable equations which are threatening the Chaco. Large-scale agribusinesses are encroaching on protected Chaco regions both themselves, and by pushing cattle ranchers into the area after evicting them from lands they traditionally used.

Now the third largest soy producer in the world, Argentina’s aggressive land conversions will soon change this status. Widespread drought in the US, formerly the top soy producer, combined with a larger than usual yield predicted for the 2012-2013 harvest, will put the Southern Cone soy producers in the top spot for production.

Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil combined are producing well over half of the soy on the international market. All countries in the Southern cone are rapidly converting all arable land to soy at breakneck speed.

Lessons of Paraguay 

Perhaps nowhere is the power of soy, and the threat to the Chaco in the face of this, more apparent than in the case of Paraguay.

Recently, Paraguay made headlines worldwide by the all-too-quick impeachment of left-leaning president Fernando Lugo, prompting international sanctions and public condemnation.

Paraguay is currently the fourth-largest exporter of soy. Loose regulations and relative poverty make it an easy target for multi-national soy giants to take hold there. Terra-i created a video -which can be viewed here– illustrating the massive changes in land taking place in the neighbouring country.

Around 77% of Paraguay’s arable land is owned by just 2% of the population. In the past ten years, deals have been struck for 203 million hectares of land — nearly six times the size of Germany — at a pace and scale that outstripped the ability of governance structures to respond, a situation which Lugo sought to reverse with a reform that never quite came to fruition.

Jeremy Hobbs, executive director of Oxfam International, writes in a recent opinion piece for the New York Times, “The Paraguay soy boom — made in China and Europe and grown upon the lands of the political elite — is controlled by the boardrooms of Big Business. As much as 70% of Paraguay’s soy is exported each year and of that the multinational grain giants Cargill, ADM, and Bunge account for about 70% [of all soy exported].”

Los Angeles based KPFK’s Sojourner Truth radio show recently featured a segment on the impeachment of Fernando Lugo. The show hosted Miguel Lovera, the former national secretary for plant safety under Lugo, who spoke of the impeachment as being a coup orchestrated by a ‘Genetically Modified Soy Mafia.’

Lovera was outspoken on the show in claiming Lugo’s removal as being intrinsically related to his moves to protect Paraguay’s Gran Chaco from encroachment by multi-national soy companies and his desire to redistribute their land to smaller-scale farmers.

“The main comparative advantage of Paraguay as a soy growing territory has actually been the lack of regulations in the past. Since Lugo’s government took over that condition changed, and we actually started regulating … venturing into sensitive territory and they weren’t ready to adapt.”

Lovera hints that the original struggle in the northern region resulting in the deaths of peasants and police officers was not only orchestrated by the soy mafia, but actually committed by those in their employment.

At the very least, there is a dangerous concentration of power in terms of Paraguayan soy -an industry controlled by only a handful of very powerful multinationals which account for an undeniably influential lobby.

Lovera states that the Chaco, after small-scale peasants, is becoming the most visible victim, “[The Chaco] is also the area that is allocating all this displacement, the cattle ranching displacement in the areas that are good for soy growing, they are encroaching into this wilderness.”

To Bear Witness

The power of something like Terra-i in the face of the great changes taking place in South America is perhaps that it is an indisputable witness to what is occurring here. An omniscient eye-in-the-sky silently watching and detailing every change taking place, no matter how remote the location in which it is occurring.

“Habitat conversion is contributing to widespread loss of biodiversity and other critical ecosystem services, yet in many parts of the world the scale and pattern of habitat loss still goes unmonitored,” says Reymondin.

“Decision makers at multiple scales (local to national to regional) need information on land-cover change, as accurate and recent as possible, in order to prioritise interventions and act upon new land-cover change patterns in a timely manner. Terra-i aims to provide information about habitat loss at a temporal and spatial resolution that is relevant for decision makers.”

The data and real-time images coming from Terra-i provide interest groups, interventionists, and really anyone with an interest, solid data to point to. It is free, accessible, and irrefutable.

Infographic of the deforestation in Chaco showing the locations and damage done. (courtesy of Greenpeace)

Reymondin and his team aim to expand Terra-i. South America, while a significant achievement to monitor an entire continent, is but one of many hotspots in terms of biodiversity loss and deforestation due to human activity.

“We will keep updating the detection of deforestation in Latin America as data comes in from the MODIS satellite sensors. We plan to extend Terra-i to cover the whole tropics which will be a new challenge as this increases considerably the amount of data to process.”

Terra-I also plans to broaden its lens to encompass other resources, including the multifarious effects deforestation has on water resources.

Quite simply, Terra-I is the fly on the wall (or better, bird in the sky) bearing witness to the changes taking place. Increasing awareness and solid, publicly available information are key to social action. Given this, perhaps tools like Terra-i could help to prevent future stories such as Lugo’s in South America.

How aware are Argentines of the deforestation problem? Click here to find out.

In the face of increasing concerns over trash generation and disposal in city of Buenos Aires, the city government recently regulated the use of plastic bags in supermarkets, kiosks, pharmacies, deliveries and convenience stores. The Argentina Independent hit the streets to find out what city residents think about the current use of plastic bags in stores, and whether they think that the new regulations will be effective.

Are these new regulations a good idea, and will they prompt people to change their habits in the long term?

Portraits: Maia Worsnop

Manuela Monsalve, art student and waitress, 25, Belgrano

To me the law seems really good because it’s incredible how they use a bag for everything, in the supermarket, in kiosks. This creates too much trash. The quantity of trash that is generated is incredible, because the bags are not used in other ways, and just end up thrown in the street. I don’t know if this has to do with the ‘environment’, because it is the city and it’s already filled with trash – the ‘environment’ would have more to do with those spaces that are almost extinct in the city.

Juan Carlotto, Kiosk manager, 56, Pilar

Yes, it’s a good idea that they change the way we deal with trash; that there would be recycled bags in the supermarkets, that they make everything disposable out of biodegradable materials, materials that do not add to all of the damage that is being done to the environment. Because it’s too much. We have not yet stopped using plastic bags in our kiosk, because we still can’t get the biodegradable bags… When we can get those bags, the first thing we will do will be to change our ways.

Jorge Alejandro Navarro, porter, 34, Palermo

It is very difficult to make people change their habits. There needs to be a very radical change in people. But I think that in the future, no more than 20 years from now, perhaps we will begin to be more aware and to create a better social consciousness. People see reusable bags, but they aren’t attracted by the option. Now they have to make better awareness campaigns, I think. There have been efforts in the past, but nothing happens.

Franz Suarez, artisan, 40, Peru

I think that in order to change people’s habits, there has to be a very strong awareness campaign. Because I think people know that they shouldn’t use bags, but they do it, they keep using them. Life, everyday life, or the business, The last thing that people are thinking about is remembering to have a reusable bag and not consume plastic bags… It’s going to take a big effort to change that; I think it’s a big problem.

This week’s feature article investigates initiatives that are promising to generate green energy from rubbish. As one of the most visible problems on the streets of Buenos Aires, garbage is an issue generating a lot of debate.

The Indy took to the streets to ask porteños (and visiting Latin Americans) what they thought of the garbage situation in Buenos Aires and if they felt it could be resolved with greener garbage initiatives.

Portraits by Beatrice Murch

Gisele Teixeira, 42, Sao Paulo, Brazil

The garbage situation in Buenos Aires is very bad. For me it is the problem of Buenos Aires. This is the fault of a lack of environmental education and initiative from the government. The collection of garbage needs to be more organised.

I don’t think making energy is the solution. They need to reduce the production of garbage, not to burn it, to make energy. The government needs to take action but it also has to come from the people, situation where both need to take action.

Rodrigo Martínez 46, Professor, Santiago, Chile 

The [rubbish] situation here can definitely be improved. I have seen many bags of garbage here, and garbage on the ground. It is not nice to look at, and it is bad for the environment. I haven’t seen any areas to recycle garbage. In Santiago, there are recycling bins, the garbage can all be separated. Here people don’t have this idea, and what I’ve seen is a lot of garbage on the street because of this.

In Chile, they make natural gas out of the garbage, they put it in the ground, basically make a compost out of it. But in Chile, the garbage is separated already, and Santiago is a much smaller city. This has to be figured out first.

Gaston Baelo 25, Student, Cordoba

The garbage situation could be much better here. But it is a question of the people. It takes a lot of money to resolve, to do everything, a lot of infrastructure. But simply it is a situation.

If we can recycle and separate everything, I think we can make energy from it. But this is a political situation. Really, the solution is to consume less and recycle the garbage.

Osvaldo Marzorati 70, Retired Lawyer, Buenos Aires

The only way for this situation to improve is to remove the people who are separating the garbage. There is no other way out. All the cartoneros, they are making a mess of the city, leaving things open so the dogs destroy the bags and spread it everywhere. The city is full of shit because of this. This is a political issue, [the cartoneros] came at the darkest hour of the crisis here in order to get some sort of a job. They collect for others, they get a wage, they have to work every day- rain or not, cold or not, but in reality some, I don’t know who, is organising getting all the money.

You can make energy from it, sure, but the problem is the separation of the things. Why does it have to be done in the city? Remove everything out, and do it wherever the owners of the land have it. The garbage is opened up and classified, this classification should be done elsewhere, out of the city limits, or in a special place where this can be handled, not on every corner of the city. That’s why it is an unclean city.

Juliana Seranjeiola, 20, Student, La Plata 

I think that it is a situation that will take a lot of people to change. The government says they can make energy, change the situation, but they don’t do it.

This is the most logical solution: take the garbage, use it to make energy, it’s the most natural for everyone. It is definitely possible to do this – yes it is possible. But how much does it cost? It takes a lot of people working together.

Collection of plastic bottles event from December 2011 (Courtesy of Banco del Bosques)

“One bottle = one square metre” the green-capped Villavicencio water bottle reads. Emiliano Ezcurra is the director of an Argentine NGO that is helping people use their plastic bottles to save the country’s forests. “We buy the forests and then comes the revolution,” he announces.

We hear so many statistics about deforestation, most of us have become numb to them. Every minute an area the size of three football pitches is cleared in the Amazon; in the ‘Gran Chaco Americano’, a vast forest that binds Argentina, Paraguay and Bolivia, tens of thousands of hectares are chopped down every month. The figures are staggering but few people believe they can do anything about it. Some, fortunately, do.

A dyed-in-the-wool environmentalist, Ezcurra spent his working life since he was 16 at Greenpeace, before launching ‘Banco de Bosques’ in 2010. He speaks with a passion and authority that is fitting of his experience; his enthusiasm, it would seem, has not dwindled.

Put simply, the NGO – The Forest Bank, in English – is working to save Argentina’s forests. Its focal point is ‘La Fidelidad’ a 250,000-hectare chunk of land in the Chaco forest that they are in the process of buying to turn into a National Park. People who want to contribute to the project use their website – available in four languages – to donate money to save parts of the forest. They scan the website’s satellite images, find a bit they like and “buy” it. Land in the forest is surprisingly cheap but you can only purchase it in large quantities, that’s why the NGO’s role is essential.

But ‘Banco de Bosques’ isn’t just about collecting money. Their innovative fundraising scheme has been getting people to use something they normally throw away, for good. If people don’t want to donate money, they can donate plastic bottles instead. The company then sells the bottles to recycling plants and uses the money to buy the land.

“The idea of collecting plastic bottles came about when [social activist and Nobel Peace Prize nominee] Juan Carr proposed that instead of people paying for a concert [we were organising] with money, they could bring plastic bottles.” Ezcurra explains. “Around two bottles – less in fact – buys you a square metre of forest… When they give bottles, they feel involved in the campaign.”

The project teamed up with Villavicencio, the country’s biggest drinking water company, to encourage people to get involved. Ezcurra hopes that in three years, they will have bought all 250,000-hectares which they will give to the state to make a National Park.

When you zoom out from ‘La Fidelidad’ on the website’s satellite imagery, it can be a little disheartening. What appeared to be an enormous mass of land is gobbled up by the huge swathes of forests surrounding it that are still potentially threatened by deforestation. But ‘La Fidelidad’ is just the tip of the iceberg for Ezcurra and his team, they are onto something much bigger “Banco de Bosques isn’t just about protecting forests, it’s about managing forests.”

Deforestation map on Banco de Bosques website

What they want to do is show that forests aren’t just beautiful trees loved by botanists; they can also be the source of profit making enterprises. “If we can make forests profitable, they don’t need to be destroyed,” he says.

Forests are full of small-scale profit turning opportunities, Ezcurra says, like, among others, ecotourism, organic honey production and fruit picking. They can make money and that, he believes, is the key to their survival.

A person chaining himself to a tree isn’t a viable type of activism anymore – to secure forests’ safety in today’s market-driven society, you have to make them attractive where it counts – financially. “With 1000 hectares of forest in the Chaco, you can make a profit. It doesn’t matter if it’s less or more than what you could do with soy, what matters is that it’s profitable.”

Can you really convince somebody who wants to plant highly profitable soy fields to stick with the forest and invest in ethical products instead? Ezcurra thinks so. “If people want to cut down the forest to plant soy we can say ‘No, what you’re doing has a negative effect on society – you can make money off this forest.’” It’s all about plain talking and being realistic. “’Maybe you won’t be able to buy a Ferrari, but you’ll be able to buy a [Volkswagen] Bora – it’s a good car.’”

Forests are in danger and Banco del Bosques are working to save them.

Emiliano Ezcurra calls himself a financial activist these days – he wants to take investment funds’ money away from destructive practices to channel them into positive projects and he’s confident there is a market for it. “There are a lot of investors who don’t want to work with forest-destroying projects anymore.”

In a few years he wants to have founded ‘Banco de Bosques Investments’, a green organisation that can compete with other investment companies and use its capital for good, supporting small enterprises that work with forests.

It’s all part of a bigger vision for society that goes at a healthier more sustainable pace. “We need a more intelligent economy, one that is adapted to nature,” he says. “You don’t adapt the forest to suit production; you adapt production to suit the forest.” Why? “Because nature doesn’t forgive,” and he sees us facing difficulties if we don’t act soon.

So much of the country’s forests have already been chopped down and deforestation is still going on at an alarming rate but Ezcurra is confident that his team can still win. “It’s like we’re losing three nil and there are 15 minutes left but we’re on the pitch and we can turn the result around.” A wry smile. “It takes balls and we’ve got plenty.”

A firm handshake, a swift goodbye and he’s off. There’s a German group interested in the project and he needs to go to Iguazu to meet them. The previous week he met with people from HSBC and they loved it. Maybe he’s on to something with this financial activism. 15 minutes left? Plenty of time.

TRINIDAD – Work crews in Trinidad ended up crushing turtle hatchlings and eggs while trying to reroute a river in an attempt to protect turtle nests and a nearby hotel.

Conservationists initially told the Trinidad Express and the Associated Press that thousands of turtles had been killed by the botched job, yet the estimated toll has since gone down with Environmental Management CEA Dr. Joth Singh quoting only a few hundred lost.

“Mr Peters indicated that contrary to reports, only a few hundred hatchlings were unfortunately lost in the action,” Singh said in a statement issued late yesterday and quoted in the Trinidad Express.

The accidental turtle kill took place on Saturday and Sunday, when excavators from the Drainage Division of the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure went onto the beach to divert the Grande Riviere River, which had swung west and eroded the beach front – threatening both turtle nests and houses.

In a dark twist, their move to protect the turtles actually killed hundreds of them.

Grande Riviere is home to Trinidad’s highest concentration of turtle nests during the laying season— it is the third-most important turtle-nesting site in the world.

Of the many sea turtles that nest here, the critically endangered leatherback turtle is the most well-known. It is the largest of all living sea turtles and the fourth largest reptile. Having survived for more than a hundred million years, leatherbacks are now facing extinction.

Grande Riviere is Trinidad’s most nest-intensive beach during the laying season of sea turtles – including the critically endangered leatherback – and is the third most prolific site in the world. The nesting season runs from May to September every year.

Singh said the Ministry’s intervention was necessary but could have been “done better”.

The EMA has also contended that more nesting ground and possibly part of the beach-front community would have been lost to the meandering river had the earthworks not been done.

Others in the community, including members of the Grande Riviere Environmental Organisation, disagreed, saying the works were unnecessary and that a new mouth for the river could have been created with less loss of turtle life. They point to the many beachfront homes in the area as the main reason that the government intervened as they did.

Pilar Nature Reserve (Photo: Tracey Chandler)

When we hear the term “conscious-travel,” we think of globe-trotting trends to take care of the environment, or expeditions that invite the visitor to help repair the damage caused to our natural world every day. Rarely do we consider a kind of travel which asks us to remember how to connect.

In Argentina, any travel agency can sort you out with an unforgettable trip to see icebergs, waterfalls, vineyards or multi-coloured canyons. For a little over a year, the dedicated team of two at Tierra Natural Viajes has been developing a different kind of tourist experience under the banner of conscious travel; a stimulating alternative to the standard idea of tourism, encouraging travellers to fall entirely in tune with all that they encounter.

Formulating a stronger connection with the self is an important strand behind agency founders Julieta Salvi and Rossana Pua’s concept of conscious-travel. With a real zest for what they do, they explain that, “travel is an experience which allows us to stop trying to be the person we believe we should be and allows us to become the person we really are.”

With this premise in mind they develop programmes that nurture a heightened sense of contemplation. Every travel experience emphasises the importance of healthy eating and a number of their excursions place the practice of yoga and meditation at the centre of the visit.

By way of example, in October 2012, Tierra Natural Viajes is offering a four-day travel experience to a Buddha retreat, located in the Traslasierra region of Córdoba province.
In this trip, visitors can practice yoga, meditation and walk in the Condorito National Park Canyons. Daily activities are scheduled in the organic vegetable garden and both accommodation and meals – natural, homemade and organic – are included in the price.

All the programmes offered by Julieta and Rossana promote a cognizant care of the environment. They openly focus on the social integration of the traveller within native communities, such as those connected to the Caburé-i jungle retreat in Misiones, and deliberately ensure that local economies are developed and supported by the tourism they generate.

Even though the idea of conscious-travel at Tierra Natural Viajes encompasses more than the standard notion of caring for the environment, ‘grass roots’ eco-tourism remains an important focus for Julieta and Rossana.

Their excursions regularly introduce interested travellers to the immediate environmental concerns plaguing a number of areas in Argentina. This is the goal of one of their most popular one-day travel experiences, an environment-conscious horse-back ride through the Nature Reserve in Pilar.

The Cabalgatas (Photo: Tracey Chandler)

The day begins at 8.30am at Retiro Train Station, where a 90-minute train journey carries the small, intimate group to Villa Rosa in Pilar, some 60km northwest of Buenos Aires. At Villa Rosa, the group enjoys a two-hour horse-back ride in the capable hands of the local gauchos, including a quick mid-morning pit-stop for mates and home-baked, organic cake, before arriving at the reserve.

Even though it will only be turning nine this year, the reserve has already suffered considerable environmental abuse. Two problems in particular are proving difficult to overcome. The first relates to the tonnes of waste from the surrounding factories in Pilar which is continually dumped into the Luján River. The second is the result of an infestation of the foreign tree species, known as Black Acacia, which is preventing other native species in the reserve from growing.
The good news is that municipal financial support is now in place and helps fund the efforts of the new, four-strong team of park rangers who are responsible for the care and redevelopment of the region.

However, whilst the municipality may be providing wages for the park rangers, it does not provide funding for the on-site grounds that enable them to work effectively, nor does it directly sponsor the environmental repair projects. All of the work going on at the reserve to revive the ecology and educate the local community is funded by The Natural Heritage Association (La Asociación Patrimonio Natural) and individual donations.

Tierra Natural Viajes works to educate visitors about these challenges. All those who take part in the horse-back ride to Pilar are given a thorough and in-depth tour of the badly affected areas on the reserve and then invited to take direct action by planting young, native trees under the guidance of the park rangers.

Cooking Lunch (Photo: Tracey Chandler)

The support that Tierra Natural Viajes provides goes beyond that of its eco-conscious travel day. Both Julieta and Rossana are deeply involved with the reserve’s redevelopment and are able to help anyone interested in volunteering intensively on the project at any time.

This kind of additional effort is what makes Tierra Natural Viajes stand out as a truly authentic travel agency concerned about the environment. In another popular tour – a one-day bike ride to the Sabe La Tierra Market in San Fernando, in the north of Buenos Aires – the emphasis is not just on cycling, an environmentally-friendly means of transport, but the special recycled bicycles that Tierra Natural Viajes offers to those who don’t have their own wheels.

Julieta and Rossana have personally recycled each and every bicycle available for use on the tour, constructing them using discarded materials that have been salvaged from a number of neighbourhoods across Buenos Aires. Each bicycle has its very own story to share and listening to the owners recount these stories is a truly magical travel experience in itself.

Tierra Natural Viajes concentrates on nurturing a synergy of experiences. If you do decide to journey across Argentina with Julieta and Rossana, be prepared to fall in love with what you encounter and don’t be surprised if you still find yourself planting trees on the Nature Reserve in Pilar many years from now.