Detail_Natural_Heritage_2023_05

Seven months in the “Patrimonio Natural”: What is the level of awareness of climate and environmental protection in Argentina?

04.05.2023 - Marla Zech
In my first report from Argentina, I wrote about my project near Buenos Aires, the tasks there and the great commitment of the founders of the “Patrimonio Natural”. I was very impressed. But inDuring the seven months I spent volunteering in Argentina, I also gained some insight into the public's awareness of climate change, its consequences and the protective measures that have been or should be taken. I want to talk about this in this, my last report.

Argentina has a lot of catching up to do when it comes to climate protection and awareness-raising. My work place, the "Patrimonio Natural", has been committed to this for many years, with various activities such as educational events, lectures and plantings. Nevertheless, environmental awareness is not yet fully developed at various levels, such as among the population, industry and politics, and there is room for improvement in many ways.
As far as the population is concerned, I have had many small experiences there that have caused or even exacerbated the problem of environmental pollution.On the one hand, there is the aspect of waste disposal. In the majority of Argentine households, waste is not separated. In some cases, it is burned on the streets due to a lack of disposal systems. In general, waste is a major feature of the landscape of the surrounding communities of Buenos Aires, the city. A heavily polluted river, the Rio Lujan, also flows through the Reserva.

Plastic waste is a particularly big problem in Argentina. When you go shopping, you are always given a plastic bag and soft drinks in plastic bottles are very common. According to a study by the "Fundacion vida silvestre", the Argentinian branch of the WWF, around 80 percent of the waste found on the beaches of the province of Buenos Aires is plastic.
Foto: Marla Zech
Andererseits gibt es auch hinsichtlich des sonstigen Konsums Argentinien nicht wirklich den Fokus auf Nachhaltigkeit. In den Supermärkten, zum Beispiel lassen sich keinerlei Bio- oder Fair Trade Produkte finden. Allerdings hat dieses fehlende Bewusstsein für Müllvermeidung und Nachhaltigkeit viele gesellschaftliche Gründe, die es schwer machen, den Umweltschutz als relevantes Thema zu etablieren.
Foto: Marla Zech
On the one hand, Argentina is suffering from an economic crisis with inflation of over 100 percent and a current poverty rate of 42 percent. People have many problems in their daily lives, so awareness of environmental protection often takes a back seat.

Furthermore, it is very difficult to obtain independent and reliable information in Argentina because the leading media there are politically biased. Access to environmental education is also limited in public schools because they receive little state support and children from wealthy families attend private schools.

That is why I think it is fundamentally important that privately run non-profit organizations such as the "Patriomonio Natural" try to counteract this.
Even at the industrial level, awareness of sustainable production methods or willingness to protect the climate is very low, as there are not enough corresponding government regulations and it is of course cheaper to discharge the poisoned wastewater into the nearest river instead of disposing of it properly.

According to a study by the Universities of Buenos Aires (UBA) and Rosario (UNR), only about eight percent of industrial waste is disposed of properly. The rest ends up in rivers or on illegal dumps. The NaThe turreservat, which the “Patrimonio Natural” manages, was also a garbage dump until 20 years ago and remains of this can still be seen, such as an old, dilapidated car buried in the ground.
Foto: Marla Zech
Diese industrielle Klimazerstörung hat hauptsächlich politische Gründe. Aufgrund von Korruption, fehlenden finanziellen Mitteln und der instabilen ökonomischen Lage ist das politische Engagement für Maßnahmen zum Klimaschutz eher dürftig. 

Einmal besuchten wir eine Demonstration für das „Ley de humedales“, ein Gesetz zum Schutz der Feuchtgebiete. Dieses Gesetz wird bereits seit zehn Jahren nicht verabschiedet, aufgrund von fadenscheinigen Behauptungen, wie die Definition von „humedales", also Feuchtgebiete müsse noch geklärt werden, nachdem bereits zehn Jahre über dieses Gesetz diskutiert wurde. Und leider ist davon auch die Reserva des Patrimonio betroffen.
Foto: Marla Zech
This lack of awareness can also be seen in the slow pace of the energy transition. Currently, around ten percent of Argentina's energy is generated from renewable sources. By 2025, this figure is expected to rise to 20 percent. During my time in Argentina, it became clear to me that a lot still needs to be done to raise environmental awareness in this country.

In addition, there has not been enough rainfall over the past four years, which, according to a study by World Weather Attribution, is not proven to be related to climate change.

And yet the Argentine population is already suffering greatly from the consequences of climate change and the changes it brings, which is creating ever greater awareness. According to a survey by the "Fundacion Vida Silvestre", awareness of the consumption of natural resources and the relationship with nature has increased to 71 percent of the population during the Corona pandemic. An important tool for raising awareness would be to implement environmental education as an integral part of school education. Furthermore, a stable economic and social situation is necessary in order to integrate effective measures for climate protection. After all, who has the capacity to worry about sustainable consumption if they don't know how they are going to put the next meal on the table? Unfortunately, this is still a very real problem in Argentina. But things can only get better from here.
After seven months in my project in Argentina, I decided to end my volunteer service early. I took the experiences I had during this time with me to Germany.

There is certainly a lot that needs to be improved here too, in terms of waste prevention, sustainability and in schools. But we can be happy that the economic and social situation here is much better than in Argentina. That is both a blessing and an obligation. And perhaps we here in Germany can also contribute something to things improving quickly in Argentina.

Best regards

Marla
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