Forests for People

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Forest management and

sustainable development in Argentina

Mirta Rosa Larrieu, Director, Forestry Production Department,

Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Argentina

he Argentine Republic covers an area of over 3.7 million

square kilometres (including the Antarctic sector), with a

population of over 40 million and a density of 15 people

per square kilometre.

Argentina has about 33 million ha of native forests and an addi-

tional 1.1 million ha of planted forests, covering a broad spectrum

of ecosystems including humid, sub-tropical temperate, semi-arid,

and arid forest types.

Eight to 20 million ha of land is available for afforestation,

of which five million has no competition with alternative agri-

cultural use, and can be complemented with other productive

activities.

A variety of factors – such as the wide variety of climates, soils and

species, an attractive legal framework for investment, low produc-

tion costs, high growth rates and lower rotations, skilled labour and

service companies for the activities of forest plantation management

– offer special comparative advantages for the implementation of

cultivated forests.

The country’s forests have seen a paradigm shift from timber

production to multiple use options, in response to various social

demands. The Government of Argentina intends to position the

country as a leader in the forest industry, being economically

competitive, socially responsible, environmentally sustainable,

socially equitable and integrated into different regions of the country

and the world, aimed at high value-added markets.

The main strategic areas of focus for Argentina are: expand-

ing the area of sustainable production; increasing productivity

in both the quantity and quality of raw materials; promotion and

development of investment in the forest industry chain; quality

job creation; increased added-value production and industrial

forest products; development of domestic demand; increase in

exports of all products tending to add value; institutional devel-

opment, both in the public and private sector; the development

of multiple socio-economic benefits of forests (environmental

services, energy forests basins); the training of human resources

development and technological innovation throughout the indus-

try; the integration of forestry with other agriculture activities;

and ensuring the realization of good business practices through-

out the production chain.

Regulatory framework

Plantations

– The area of planted forests, mainly concentrated in the

regions of Mesopotamia, Pampas, Cuyo, Northwest and Patagonian

Andes, has been the result of a national policy of incentives for

afforestation. Currently in force are the National Law

No. 25,080 extended by Law No. 26,432 Investment

in Forestry.

Conceived with the aim of increasing forested areas,

improving the efficiency of industrial forestry projects

and encouraging the establishment of new industries,

Argentina’s forest regions

There are 33 million hectares of native forest in Argentina

Source: SAyDS