| Argentina |
| Location |
Southern
South America |
| National
websites |
http://www.sernah.gov.ar/ |
| Embassy / Chancery in
U.S. |
Ambassador Diego Ramiro Guelar 1600 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington DC
20009
|
| Agencies responsible
for biological inventory and conservation |
Administracion de
Parques Nacionales, Secretaria de Recursos Naturales y
Ambiente Humano, Avda Santa Fe 690, 1059 Buenos Aires Comite Nacional MAB Argentina, Secretaria de
Vivienda y Ordenamiento Ambiental, Defensa 120, 1002
Buenos Aires
|
| Non-governmental
organizations concerned with conservation |
National Park
Administration, National Forestry Institute, Argentinian
Wildlife Foundation (FVSA), River Plate Ornithological
Association, Friends of the Earth Foundation, Argentinian
Museum of Natural Sciences |
| Major Natural
Resources |
The major natural resources are the
forests and the oceans. From the forests come large
numbers of wood for exportation as well as plants and
animals. However, a large portion of the forests have
been destroyed for development and this continues to be a
problem. From the oceans, fishing and exporting of fish
is possible. Argentina is rich in wildlife. It contains
thirteen ecosystems. Becuase of this, another natural
resource is its wildlife. The wildlife brings in tourism.
Most ecotourism is concentarted on birdwatching, whale
watching, and examination of flora. |
| Major Environmental
and Conservation Issues |
Key Environmental
Concerns include errosion due to poor land use, air and
water pollution, and desertification. However, perhaps
the biggest problem is lack of enforcement of laws.
Argentina has been involved in almost every international
committee focused on conservation of wildlife. However,
either Argentina does not pass laws to back up the new
regulations or it does not enforce the laws it passes.
Most laws dealing with environmental conservation are not
enforced. Because of this, the above problems continue to
be a problem and they continue to get worst. Lack of
funding in this area prevents the government from taking
a more active role. The major efforts are being done
through independent or governmental agencies, not to
enforce laws, but to try to repair some fo the damage
done. |
| Statistics |
Information Sources |
| Land area |
|
http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html |
| Area of forest |
302,095 Sq.km |
http://www.wcmc.org.uk/forest/data/cdrom2/samtabs.htm#Table
4 |
| Area of wetlands |
0 |
http://www.wri.org/wri/sdis/ctr_std/cs-pdf/argen.pdf |
| Area of territorial
waters |
|
http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html |
| Population |
32,322,000 |
http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html |
| Population Density |
12.7 Sq. km |
http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html |
| Area protected (ha)
(only areas >1000ha) at all IUCN levels |
4,373,054 |
http://www.wcmc.org.uk/protected_areas/data/summstat.html |
| Fraction of land area
protected (%) |
1.57 |
http://www.wcmc.org.uk/protected_areas/data/summstat.html |
| Major Protected Areas |
Forests |
http://www.wri.org/wri/sdis/ctr_std/cs-pdf/argen.pdf |
| Endemic Species |
| Mammals |
47 |
| Birds |
19 |
| Reptiles |
64 |
| Amphibians |
45 |
| Fish |
42 |
| Invertebrates |
15 |
| Plants |
17 |
|
http://www.camacdonald.com/birding/Comparisons-SouthAmerica.htm http://data.wri.org:1996/
|
| Endangered, Threatened
and Vulnerable Species |
| Mammals |
21 |
| Birds |
42 |
| Reptiles |
10 |
| Amphibians |
13 |
| Fish |
2 |
| Invertebrates |
18 |
| Plants |
247 |
|
World Conservation Monitoring
Centre - Animal World Conservation Monitoring
Centre - Plants
|
| Extinct Species |
| Mammals |
0 |
| Birds |
1 |
| Reptiles |
0 |
| Amphibians |
0 |
| Fish |
0 |
| Invertebrates |
1 |
| Plants |
3 |
|
World Conservation Monitoring
Centre - Animal World Conservation Monitoring
Centre - Plants
|
| Species listed on
CITES Appendix I |
|
CITES-listed Species Database |
| Species listed on
CITES Appendix II |
|
CITES-listed Species Database |
| Legislation |
| Laws protecting
endangered or threatened species |
The National Parks
Law, National System of Natural Protected Areas Law |
| Laws protecting
endangered ecosystems |
The National Parks
Law, Defense of Forest Heritage Law, National System of
Natural Protected Areas Law |
| Signatory to CITES |
April 8, 1981 |
| Signatory to Ramsar
Wetlands Convention |
May 5, 1992 |
| Signatory to
Convention on Biological Diversity |
June 5, 1992 |
| Signatory to Migratory
Bird Treaty |
(date) |
| Member of
International Whaling Commission |
Dec. 2, 1946 |
| Signatory to other
international treaties designed to protect or manage
biological resources |
Convention on Nature
Protection and Wildlife Preservation in the Western
Hemesphere (1940), Agreement on the Protection of Flora
and Fauna and the Formation of Fronteir Parks (1976),
Convention for the Conservation and Management of Vicuna
(1979), Latin American Network (1983) |
| Natural Resource Use |
Information Sources |
| Fisheries |
Fishing is a popular profession.
Although research has shown that land in Argentina could
be used in aquaculture production, this angle of the
industry has not been developed. Instead, most of the
fishing is done in the oceans and river systems.
Argentina has a National Shool of Fishing, this school
along with the University of National Technology ( which
offers a Fishing Engineering program), and the Program of
Inspection and Control are responsible for making sure
that different faunas are safe, regardless of fishing.
The major contintent that Argentina exports to is Europe. |
http://www.un.org/esa/agenda21/natlinfo/countr/argent/natur.htm#oceans |
| Forestry |
Because of rapid population
growth, many of the forests have been destroyed and used
for creating new urbanized areas. However, the forests
are so endangered and so little of them protected that a
South American Comittee (UNIDO) in 1994 brought it to its
attention. That year, Argentina passed an urbanization
plan written as pasrt of the "Constitution of
1994," that rationed out how many kilometers of
forest can be urbanized per year. |
http://www.un.org/esa/agenda21/natlinfo/countr/argent/natur.htm#oceans |
| Ecotourism |
Tourism is a main industry in
Aregntina, much of it surrounding nature. Whale watching
is one actvity that brings many travelers. The Andes are
also of interest because of their diversity in faunas.
Moreover, the forests and river systems are also an
attraction to ecotourists. In addition, Argentina offers
many species of birds that can be observed here. |
http://www.un.org/esa/agenda21/natlinfo/countr/argent/natur.htm#biodiv |
| Trade in wildlife
products |
Feathers from birds are used to
make anything from religious costumes by Indian natives
to hand-crafted commercial ornaments. This is one reason
that there are so many endangered birds. |
http://www.un.org/esa/agenda21/natlinfo/countr/argent/natur.htm#biodiv |
| Hunting |
Hunting is a problem in Argentina.
Although there are laws protecting endangered species,
they are not strongly enforced. This makes it so that
hunting is the second largest problem in Argentina for
natural wildlife (destruction of habitat being the
first). Birds are commonly hunted as well as rare animals
such as armadillos. |
http://www.un.org/esa/agenda21/natlinfo/countr/argent/natur.htm#biodiv |
| Other uses of natural
resources |
Argentina has a large number of
plants. However, due to develpment and destruction of
natural habitats, over 200 types of plants are endangered
today. There is a large use of herbs for medicinal use by
native Indian groups. |
http://www.un.org/esa/agenda21/natlinfo/countr/argent/natur.htm#biodiv |
| Human Impacts on Natural
Resources |
Information Sources |
| Air pollution |
Air pollution is a pressing issue
for Argentina. In recent years, the pollution levels have
continually risen. However, because of lack of funding
and controll, no particular companies and industries have
been held responsible for the continued levels of waste.
It is known that the indurtries dealing in chemical
production release approximateley 30% of all air
pollution. However, there is no legislation enforced that
has made the industry reveal their numbers. For this
reason, all that the government has to go on are
estimates they have made. |
http://www.un.org/esa/agenda21/natlinfo/countr/argent/natur.htm#oceans |
| Water pollution |
Due to development and pollution,
clean water is limited. There have been government
programs set up to ration water use, however, for the
most part they have been unsucessful. Currently, it costs
over $103 million in programs to clean water for drinking
each year. |
http://www.un.org/esa/agenda21/natlinfo/countr/argent/natur.htm#oceans |
| Development activities |
Develpoment in recent years has
been of major concern. With development has also come the
destruction of natural habitats. This has endangered many
species and even caused extinctions of others. However,
population is steadily increasing and the government has
agreed that development is needed even in natural
habitats. There are regulations stating how much of the
land can be developed however, these laws are not
strongly enforced. |
http://www.un.org/esa/agenda21/natlinfo/countr/argent/natur.htm#biodiv |
| Introduced species |
Introduced species has been a
problem in the past and has been responsible for loss of
endemic birds and rare animals like armadillos and
llamas. Although there are laws prohibiting the entering
of animals from the outside, this law is not strongly
enforced. There is the National Program of Biodiversity,
however, they do not list introduced species as one of
their main concerns. |
http://www.un.org/esa/agenda21/natlinfo/countr/argent/inst.htm#science |
| Legislation addressing
these issues |
The Constitution of 1994 helps
preserve the rapid destruction of forests by limiting how
much of it can be used for development each year.
Unfortunateley, the way that Argentina has dealt with
most of these problems is to create organizations or to
appoint existing organizations to be in charge of them.
However, due to lack of funding and enforcement, this has
not been an effective means of control. Moreover, the
laws that they have made have not been enforced, making
them useless. |
http://www.un.org/esa/agenda21/natlinfo/countr/argent/natur.htm#oceans |
| Restoration and Reintroduction |
Information Sources |
| Programs for
restoration of damaged habitat |
There is a new government program
called "Plan Nacional de Desarollo Forestal"
(1995) that promises to restore and conserve damaged
forest lands. |
http://www.un.org/esa/agenda21/natlinfo/countr/argent/natur.htm#oceans |
| Programs for ex situ
conservation (captive breeding and reintroduction) of
endangered species |
El Plan de Manejo de la Zona
Costera Patagónica was develped after a SITES meeting.
They are responsible for breeding programs for native
reptiles and mammals that are highly commercialized. They
do this to make sure that these species do not go extinct
and to make sure that the population of these animals are
level. |
http://www.un.org/esa/agenda21/natlinfo/countr/argent/natur.htm#biodiv |