Darwin Initiative

Darwin Initiative, Argentina

For over three years Eden has been working in the sub-tropical forests of Misiones, Argentina. The area is famous for the waterfalls of Iguazu, but it is becoming infamous for its diminishing forest too.

Global Biodiversity Hotspot

These forests are part of the Mata Atlantica, or Atlantic Rainforest, and are one of the most threatened ecosystems on the planet. The threat is so great that this forest is classified as a Global Biodiversity Hotspot. These global hotspots cover approximately 2.3% of the world’s land area but contain over half the world’s known species of plants and animals. If we lose these hotspots we will also lose a huge number of species forever.

Severe threat from deforestation

Scientists estimate only 5% of the original forest remains and most of that fraction is under severe threat from deforestation and the agriculture that follows in its wake. Once the forest is cut or burnt down then it is replaced with huge plantations of exotic pine species, tobacco and soya plantations and more recently cattle ranching. Most of this destruction has occurred in the last hundred years or so.

A bit about our work

Eden’s project has enabled scientists to study the animals and plants and also to work with the indigenous people, the Guaraní, whose ancient home is disappearing.

Assessment of the Biodiversity

Using camera traps, to photograph wildlife in the forest, an assessment of the biodiversity has been completed.

Complete inventory of the plants

Also a botanical institute from Buenos Aires has conducted a complete inventory of plants from the region and made the information available on the internet.

Supporting the indigenous people

The Guaraní were traditionally a nomadic hunter gatherer society who practiced small scale agriculture, but the recent pressures on the forest mean they are now living a more sedentary life. Their rights are limited and their voices rarely heard in the corridors of power, so this project has been important in raising the profile of this way of life. Ethnobotanical (the study of people’s use of plants) studies in the area have shown which of the remaining landscapes are of most importance to the Guaraní. Eden and the local partner organisations have campaigned to the local government to safeguard these areas from further logging. So far there is a temporary logging moratorium placed on these lands, but in time this protection may become more permanent.