A new report released
by Greenpeace has revealed that nearly half of the deforestation that took
place in northern Argentina last year was illegal. The four northern provinces
of Salta, Santiago del Estero, Formosa and Chaco accounted for 80 percent of
all deforestation in the country.
In 2017, 128,217 hectares were deforested in these
provinces, of which 59,541 hectares were illegally cleared. The majority of
illegal deforestation took place in Santiago del Estero and Chaco Provinces.
According to Greenpeace, the main causes behind this
deforestation were the expansion of the agricultural frontier – especially soy
cultivation and cattle ranching – and forest fires.
Greenpeace points to low fines and complicity of civil
servants as main drivers of persistent illegal deforestation. Since 2007, when
the National Forest Law was approved, more than 750,000 hectares have been
illegally cleared in Argentina.
