Deforestation In Gran Chauco

Approximately 30% of the Earth’s total land area, or about 4 billion hectares, is covered by forests (1); they promote biodiversity (70% of all land animals and plants reside in forests (2)), regulate climate, act as indispensable carbon sinks, mitigate storm water runoff, conserve soil, as well as provide food, wood, medicine, and oxygen (3). About 1.6 billion people worldwide rely on forests for both food and economic livelihood (4). Only 9% of forested land is protected, however, and each year approximately 13 million hectares are lost to deforestation, an area roughly the size of Panama. Deforestation is a significant problem in developing countries, accounting for 65% of all greenhouse gas emissions from the developing world (5). The …show more content…
Deforestation accounts for more greenhouse gas emissions than the combined emissions of the nation’s entire transportation sector (11), and the subsequent agricultural activity creates 36% of Argentina’s total emissions (12). In addition to the release of these climate change-inducing greenhouse gasses, deforestation and soy monoculture in Argentina present various social and environmental consequences. The flora and fauna of the Gran Chaco, as well as its indigenous people, face displacement and violence from encroaching farmers and ranchers (13); non-indigenous Argentines in areas surrounded by soy farms suffer from health problems related to crop fumigation and pesticides, the use of which has increased 858% in the last two decades despite only a 30% increase in agricultural yield (14); the economic incentives to plant soy have forced much of the country’s formerly free range livestock onto feedlots, giving rise to factory farming and necessitating the importation of most fruits and vegetables (15); and the degradation of forest land has caused increase runoff of rainwater into streams and rivers, exacerbating flooding throughout the country