New Public Enquiry?

As a result of the opposition manifested at the public enquiry over a proposal to deforest 30,000 hectares of Chaco forest (see below), we have learnt (informally, and yet to be confirmed officially) that the government may now carry out a second public meeting.

Both ASOCIANA and the government agency for indigenous issues (IPPIS) presented legal measures questioning the project and the manner in which the public enquiry was carried out. ASOCIANA questioned the scientific validity of the company’s environmental impact assessment. The government agency was basically unhappy with the fact that they were only informed of the event two days before the event, and therefore unable to attend.

Audience at the initial public hearing in Embarcación 02 07 07

This news is both good and bad. Good in the sense that our questioning was strong enough to stop an outright authorisation of the project. Bad in that the government and the land owners still thinking they can somehow get the project approved. The fact if the matter is that had ASOCIANA not been involved, it is quite likely that no formal questioning of he project would have been made, which would have made it easier for it to have been approved.

What is interesting is that this is occurring just as a big sugar and paper factory in the neighbouring province of Jujuy have backtracked on a proposal to deforest a large are of tropical cloud forest after meeting a lot of resistance from non-government organisations. On a slightly different plane, another issue making headlines is the opposition being mounted by a small town high in the mountains against a proposed uranium mine.

Sugar and Paper Mill in Ledesma (Jujuy) - which recently backed down
from a proposal to deforest tropical jungles in the Andean foothills

The above is indicative of a gradual growth of environmental awareness among certain sectors of public opinion, and it is to be welcomed. Small as it may be, one feels we are no longer alone. There are others out there with whom we can link our efforts, and this is very positive.