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Together with ASOCIANA team members, Claudia and Zacarias (second photo - blue cap), Andrew took part in the public enquiry (02 07 07) on the proposed project to convert 30,000 hectares of Chaco forest into a cattle ranch.

The meeeting took place in the town of Embarcación. The banner shown in the picture here was put up in the town square and says " Everyone welcome, except those who assasinate our trees, fish and fauna".

The American-owned company presented its project, which was then effectively ripped to pieces by a small but vociferous audience which expressed its total opposition to the initiative. The picture below shows a partial view of the audience.

The enquiry was moderated by a government official from the Secretariat for the Environment and Sustainable Development (which in Salta comes under the authority of the Ministry of Production, revealing where the government's priorities are with regards to environmental issues). The picture below shows the moderator, with a demonstrator who also kept an eye on proceedings, flapping his wings whenever he was in agreement with anything said!

For reasons which were not explained by the government the meeting took place in a location well away from the area that will be affected by the project. One assumes therefore that the authorities were hoping this would mean less resistance - they could not have been more wrong. By doing it further from the project's actual location, they inadvertently made it easier for environmental campaigners from other parts of the province to participate.

The proposed project was questioned from a variety of angles (including human rights), and although the government can give the go ahead to the project if it chooses too, such a decision will generate a lot of anger and resentment.

It was encouraging to see indigenous people participating (mainly women), although these were not from the communities who will be directly affected (they were not invited, and it was too far for them to travel even if they had been).

We were also very encouraged by the fact that one of the local papers put the event on their front cover, with a full-page article on page2. It was also picked up by one of the national papers, which is read across the country. The headline at the bottom of the page reads " General oppostion to 30,000 hectare deforestation in Rivadavia".

We now need to follow-up on the questions that were raised in the enquiry, and keep the pressure on the government and the company. We shall keep you posted!