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ANT EATER NEWS

January - February 2015

MARINE SPATIAL PLANNING

Within the framework of the Argentine Governments Pampa Azul (Blue Pampa) initiative, Vida Silvestre will promote and lead the Marine
Spatial Plan in a pilot area: the San Jorge Gulf. To this end, Vida Silvestre team visited the provinces of Chubut and Santa Cruz, within the
framework of the Argentine project (Antactica and their Living Oceans - AALO) financed by WWF -NL, to start it off in its early stages.
The object of these preparatory meetings is to make the relevant provincial authorities aware and obtain their commitment in order to proceed
towards holding a training course on Marine Spatial Planning. This course will be held by NOAA experts, and cofinanced by FVSA, US Embassy,
Chubut province and, hopefully, the National Ministry of Science.

Report of the First International Meeting on Oceanic Marine Areas available!.

The technical report with the recommendations of this First International Meeting on Oceanic Marine Protected Areas organized by FVSA is
ready.
The main objective of the meeting was to build up abilities for the design and management of Oceanic Marine Protected Areas (MPA).
During the workshop, local and international experts talked of the world and regional situation of MPAs, the benefits and values of oceanic
MPAs and the situation in Argentina. At the same time, cases of different international experiences were presented, which serve as
recommendations for the design, implementation and management of MPAs in our country.
The workshop was sponsored by the National Parks Administration and the Environment and Sustainable Development Secretary, with the
active participation of the Ministry of Science Technology and Innovative Production, the Sub secretariat of Fisheries and Foreign Affairs
Ministry. The main organizations in marine conservation in Argentina also took part.
To look into the report please see the website: http://www.vidasilvestre.org.ar/sala_redaccion/opublicaciones/?11580/Informe-Tcnico-delPrimer-Encuentro-Internacional-sobre-reas-Marinas-Protegidas-Ocenicas

BEEF PRODUCTION AND WOODLANDS: an opportunity for the CHACO

The Argentine Government launched the National Plan for Woodlands Management including cattle, an agreement between the Ministry of
Agriculture, Cattle and Fisheries, and the National Environment and Sustainable Development Secretary. The initiative is especially focused on
problems faced by the Chaco Woodlands and seeks to promote the inclusion of cattle breeding into the acceptable practices in areas of natural
woodlands, complying with environmental, economic and social sustainability.
Gran Chaco is the second most extended forest ecoregion in LAC (after the Amazon), shared between Argentina, Paraguay and Bolivia, facing a
very intensive deforestation process due to agriculture and beef production expansion.
This year FVSA will launch a project in the Gran Chaco, financed by the National Secretariat of the Environment and Sustainable Development
that will support the national program. The initiative aims at strengthening local capacities for productive cattle and forestry management in
Salta, Formosa, Chaco and Santiago de Estero, compatible with the conservation of the woodlands and their biodiversity. Prior to this, FVSA
demonstrated that this is also possible in natural Pampas Grasslands improving the economic gains and, at the same time, enhancing the
biodiversity value of grasslands. The present objective is to apply this experience into the Gran Chaco ecoregion, as a tool to reduce
deforestation pressure.

SUSTAINABILITY: a safe wager

FVSA took part in the project Learning to work with the Environment of the Junior Achievement Foundation, a competition of school projects
which offered the prize Vida Silvestre for sustainability. The participant schools were asked to present development projects as if they were a
business enterprise.
The winner of the Vida Silvestre prize was the Alas School for their project on producing a re-usable mate gourd with recyclable packaging on
a massive scale, for a reasonable price with the participation of variously handicapped persons. It must be pointed out that the project also won
the main prize which shows once again that production with conservation not only is possible, but is a winner.

THE ARGENTINE PRESS GOES GREEN

FVSA made a presentation to the board of ADEPA - Argentine Association of Reporting Entities with the object of convincing them of the
importance of sustainability, discuss on the incidence of the environment on society, economics, etc., and so must be considered as a priority in
the handling of news items.
Amongst the members of the executive council are representatives of all the national dailies (CLARIN, NACION, PERFIL, EL CRONISTA, and
others) and representatives of the more important provincial newspapers (Tucumans GAZETA, Santa Fes EL LITORAL, LOS ANDES de
MENDOZA, LA VOZ DEL INTERIOR from Cordoba, Saltas TRIBUNO)
During the meeting, Martin Etchevers, manager of the GRUPO CLARIN communications, the main multimedia in the country, asked leave to tell
his peers on the board of directors, about the excellent experience he had had with FVSA when together we produced the SAVE OUR PLANET
series and he referred to FVSA as the most trustworthy source for environmental data in Argentina. This is a first step to enlighten the editors
of these dailies on environmental subjects.

84% of Misiones Province people believe it would be serious or very serious the jaguar extinction

Through a survey we carried out in Misiones Province on the level of interest and knowledge of society about the jaguar, we found that 84 % of
the people surveyed, considered the extinction of the species would be serious to very serious. Further, according to 58% of those surveyed, the
jaguar is the most representative species of the province.
75 % of the people believe the jaguar is worth protecting. And what is more, as far as the conservation of this species, 87% believe the jaguar
population is diminishing while 52.7 % point out that there are only between one and 100 individuals still alive.
Of these, the 66,39 % of the consulted folk maintained that the government of Misiones is the main custodian for protection and conservation of
its habitat, followed by lumber companies, agriculture and beef producers, NGOs and, lastly, every individual.
The complete results of the survey are to be found at :
http://www.vidasilvestre.org.ar/que_hacemos/nuestra_solucion/cambiar_forma_vivimos/conducta_responsable/bosques/yaguarete/?120
41/para-el-84-de-los-misioneros-la-extincin-del-yaguaret-sera-un-hecho-grave-o-muy-grave