Argentina has lost nearly 70 percent of its forests in a century, the Environmental Secretariat said at a UN conference on desertification.
Forests that spread across 100 million hectares in 1900 have dwindled to 33.19 million hectares, a top Argentine official said.
“In 100 years, we have lost between 60 and 70 percent of our forest heritage,” Environmental Undersecretary Sergio La Rocca told reporters on Friday.
Forest destruction has accelerated in the past 10 years with the boom of soy crops, a major motor of growth in Argentina, the top exporter of soy flour and oil and the third-largest exporter of soy seeds.
The province of Salta alone lost 26 percent of its forests in the past 30 years, a study by the College of Agronomics at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) found. The study found that in 2007, “the highest rate was reached: 2.1 percent of forests destroyed in a single year.”
Faced with the breadth of the devastation in the province, the Argentine Supreme Court ordered a halt to deforestation in natural forests, following an appeal by indigenous populations. The move ran counter to the provincial authorities, which had authorized forest exploitation.
Buenos Aires will host the 23rd World Forestry Congress from Oct. 18 to Oct. 23.
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