Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
LOCAL KNOWLEDGE
ECOLOGICAL ISSUES IN THE IBERÁ
The Iberá ecosystem is delicate. US entrepreneurs-turned-conservationists Douglas
and Kristine Tompkins have bought large tracts of private land adjoining the Reserva
Provincial Esteros del Iberá and propose to donate them to the Corrientes govern-
ment, if it puts them and the existing Iberá reserve under the control of the Argen-
tine government as a national park.
But many locals are far from thrilled. What seemed a straightforward act of ecolo-
gical philanthropy became a hot potato, pitting landowners, agribusiness and politi-
cians against each other.
Beneath this part of northern Argentina - and extending into Brazil, Uruguay and
Paraguay - is the Guaraní Aquifer, an immense body of underground water of in-
creasing political importance. This has led some to see the Tompkins' involvement
as a cover for a neocolonialist grab for resources.
Check out
www.theconservationlandtrust.org
and
www.proyectoibera.org
for the
Tompkins' position. We asked Douglas Tompkins to comment:
Why the opposition?
Conservation encounters opposition wherever it is. Not one national park was cre-
ated in the US without drawn-out battles with locals. Conservation is a political act
and when it has to do with what one does with land then you are treading in hot
political territory. A local cultural shift takes time and you also have to do your part
well. We certainly make our share of mistakes, but fortunately they've been small
ones. Overall we win people across to our side as the years go by.
Aquifer
The Guaraní aquifer is a nonissue. It's massive, somewhere around 1.2 million sq
km. Iberá is a mere 1.3 million hectaresof that. One percent. A shallow surface wet-
land with little to do with the deep aquifer. The Iberá's importance as a water source
is also overestimated by people trying to make some kind of political or social noise.
The Paraná passes more water than the whole Iberá under the Corri-
entes-Resistencia bridge every 18 hours.
Dangers
The industrial rice plantations and the big industrial tree plantations of even-aged
exotic monocultures. Then on top of that you have arrogant fools who flout laws and
build dikelike roads for dozens of kilometers disrupting the hydrology. Those are the
big three threats to the wetlands. Some bad grazing practices exist, but they are
mild in comparison.
What message would you like to convey to the Iberá's people?
