Program Summary

This five-year integrated landscape management program aims to maintain and improve ecosystem services in resilient production and conservation landscapes in subtropical forest of northern Argentina, comprising the Chaco and Yungas eco-regions, which account for 68 percent of Argentina´s forestlands. The program is aligned with the WBG’s Country Partnership Framework (CPF) FY19-22 for Argentina by supporting its NDC goals, reducing the country’s vulnerability to climate change, mitigating against the country’s global environmental footprint, and making the rural economy more climate smart. 

Challenge

Argentina has one of the highest deforestation rates in the Latin America and the Caribbean region—87 percent of such deforestation occurred in the Chaco Ecoregion. Although, since 2014, deforestation in Argentina diminished around 50 percent of the average annual deforestation before 2007, still 3.5 million hectares were lost between 2007 and 2018. In 2016, almost 10 percent of GHG emissions in Argentina came from land-use change and silviculture, out of which 88.9 percent was due to deforestation for livestock and agriculture production. Although forest conservation and sustainable management plans have been increasing quantitatively over the years, only 5.3 percent of forest was under management plans in 2017. Out of that, only 2 percent of the management plans are for forestlands owned by indigenous and campesino communities. Local context of poor and under-developed value chains and markets for forest-based products, together with great differences between forest management administration and control systems between provincial authorities, create the condition for unsustainable use of ecosystems and loss of opportunities for the formal economy.

Approach

The program will focus on three strategies that will strengthen integrated and sustainable management of natural resources and sustainable management of agricultural production landscapes:

Strategy #1: management of sources of ecosystem services to improve local livelihoods;

Strategy #2: development and scale-up of low impact productive land uses; and

Strategy #3: mainstreaming sustainable agricultural practices in production landscapes. 

The program will involve the Forestry, Protected Areas, Agriculture and Tourism sectors to develop and scale-up solutions for achieving more sustainable management of the landscapes in an integrated approach. Program partners will include the National Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development / the National Parks Administration (APN), and the National Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries / the National Institute for Agriculture Technology and Research (INTA).

[Expected] Results:

(i) Management effectiveness of national parks and provincial protected areas functioning as core ecosystem services sources across selected landscapes and biodiversity corridors will be increased through the provision of infrastructure and equipment and linking their management with local and national green jobs  creation and income generation initiatives.

(ii) Proper land uses in the corresponding geographic areas will be promoted by supporting the development of suitable low-impact alternative productive activities to generate income and livelihoods while ensuring the ecosystems services provision.