Ten years of contested enforcement of the Forest Law in Salta, Argentina: The role of land-change science and political ecology

Authors: AGJ Salas Barboza, JM Cardón Pocoví, C Venencia, LL Huaranca, JL Agüero, MA Iribarnegaray, M Escosteguy, JN Volante & L Seghezzo

Published: 2019

Source: Journal of Land Use Science

In this study, the authors present a critical account of the enforcement of the Forest Law in the Province of Salta, Argentina. They discuss whether the objectives of this law were accomplished, and analyse the role that some technical tools, coupled with specific theoretical approaches, could play in its future enforcement. They illustrate their analysis with data from a case study in the Chaco region of this Province. The authors identified, mapped, and analysed land claims by indigenous communities and small-scale agricultural producers as well as large-scale land acquisitions and discuss how these two variables could be used to improve the technical accuracy and the social legitimacy of the zoning map required by the Forest Law. They conclude that a balanced combination of land-change science methods and political ecology can be useful to improve the fairness of decision-making processes and the sustainability of social-environmental governance in agricultural frontiers. >>READ MORE