Natural Heritage in Danger. Native Forests, New and Old Forms of Extractive Activities and Sustainability from the Perspective of a New Generation of Scientists, Activists and Entrepreneurs in Argentina

Abstract

This article aims to address conflictive projects and their pathways of resolution in the field of land use and territorial and natural resource management in Latin America in relation to one of the protected areas of Argentinean Patagonia, Los Alerces National Park (PNLA), inscribed by UNESCO as a Natural World Heritage Site in 2017. I argue that the changes driven by the commodity boom (2000–2014), i.e., the development of extractive activities, deforestation and the expansion of grain and mineral exports, have had and continue to have a high environmental impact. Since the 2000s, the continent has experienced a series of protests that brought to light the unease caused by projects based on the development of large-scale extractive activities, which impacted legislation and reinforced the implementation of restrictive regulations for territorial management and land use, as seen from the nomination of the PNLA as a Natural World Heritage Site. The article shows that the legislative changes, as well as requirements of the PNLA inscription, provide fundamental legal support to the formulation, management and technical implementation of a new agro-silvo-pastoral culture capable of reconciling the conservation of scenic value (vii), biodiversity (x) and sustainability in protected areas. This proposal opens up the possibility of expanding the protected areas within the framework of the Andean-North Patagonian Biosphere Reserve.