Argentine forest inventory termed a “wake-up call”

The results of Argentina’s first official inventory of its native forests, while not surprising, clearly qualify as worrisome. The inventory, made public last month by Argentina’s Environment Secretariat, shows native forests covering 82,014,485 acres (33,190,442 hectares), just 12% of the country. Compared to a forest census conducted in 1914, it indicates the nation’s native forests shrunk by more than two thirds in the 20th century. The World Bank-financed inventory was conducted for the Argentine Environment Secretariat by a consortium of local and Canadian companies using satellite images and surveys in the field. It marks the first time Argentina has carried out such a project using modern data-collection methods. Previous efforts have relied on estimates and information supplied by landholders. The country’s first forest... [Log in to read more]

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