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the national policy promotes the establishment of forests, mainte-
nance, management, irrigation, crop protection and an integrated
forest industry.
Non-refundable financial support is available for the planting of
new forests, with amounts per hectare, varying by region, species
and forestry. Funding is also available for silvicultural pruning, thin-
ning, regrowth management and the enrichment of native forest.
Such financial support can cover approximately 80 per cent of the
cost of implementation, and provide the fiscal stability required for
project success.
Native forest
– The Minimum Budget Law Nº 26,331 on
Environmental Protection of Native Forests provides protection for
the environmental enrichment, restoration, conservation, utilization
and sustainable management of forests and environmental services
they provide to society. Categories of conservation of native forests
are: Category I (red) – areas of high conservation value that should
not transform; Category II (yellow) – areas of medium conservation
value that may be degraded; and Category III (green) – areas of low
conservation value that can be converted.
In this way the Government has undertaken the implementa-
tion of activities across the country involving the use of forests for
economic development of the population and their conservation for
future generations.
International cooperation
A sustainable management of natural resources project funded
by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development,
called Sustainable Plantation Forestry, contributes to the
sustainable development of the forestry sector, strengthening
national institutions and provincial, private and non-govern-
Argentina’s Model Forest Program
The Model Forest Program was launched in 1996 following
an agreement between the Secretary of the Environment
and Sustainable Development and the International Model
Forest Secretariat, based in Ottawa. Argentina is a founding
member of the Iberoamerican Model Forest Network,
established in 2002 and hosted by CATIE, Costa Rica.
The Program promotes sustainable forest ecosystems
management based on strategic partnerships between key
stakeholders and networking, in order to contribute to local
communities’ progress, considering social fairness, local
needs and global concerns.
Its vision is to achieve and maintain regional leadership
implementing sustainable development initiatives through
innovative strategies that encourage local stakeholders’
partnerships and adaptive co-management of natural resources.
The Program has been developed to promote sustainable
development within the conceptual framework of integrated
natural resources management, to develop innovative
methods, procedures, techniques and concepts for
forest ecosystems management and to foster strategic
partnerships and collaborative management.
A network of provinces – Misiones in San Pedro,
Formosa in Formoseño, Jujuy, Tucumán, Norte Del Neuquén
and Chubut in Futaleufú – implement local projects
addressing a range of issues most relevant to those
provinces.
Additional projects implemented by the National
Agricultural Technology Institute promote the conservation
of biodiversity and environmental management in
agricultural and forest ecosystems.
The Model Forest Program also examines the relationships
between ecosystem components in Argentina’s national
parks, nature reserves and protected areas, allowing it to
preserve the variety of flora, fauna and natural processes.
Research and development projects on native forests in
the Santa Cruz and Tierra del Fuego provinces of Patagonia
include investigations into the design of silvicultural
treatments, and in North Patagonia discussions on carbon
capture, the processes of degradation of forest ecosystems,
and the development of methodologies to quantify the
processes to report the status of the forests in the region,
province and nation are also being carried out.
Eucalyptus
ministumps
Image: Las Marías Co
Monica Gabay, National Coordinator – National
Model Forest Program Secretary of Environment and
Sustainable Development
Vicenta’s orchard, Toba community Com’lec, Formosa Province
Image: SAyDS
Pine plantations
Poplar plantations
Image: Ederra Co
Image: Garruchos Co