To promote sustainability and the protection of biodiversity, San Pedro added the Secretariat of Rural Development and Municipal Environment.
This is an area that will be crucial in management, as it is one of the most relevant localities in terms of protected areas in the Province. Additionally, it has a strongly developed rural sector.
The secretariat will be led by Jorge Stelmaszczuk, former head of SAFCI. One of the ongoing projects is the protection and conservation of the El Molino Basin.
Rural Development and Environment: San Pedro is committed to caring for resources
The municipality formalized the creation of Rural Development and Environment with a focus on preserving private and public reserves, with Biosphere Yabotà as the main green lung.
The secretariat has a long-term vision aimed at promoting sustainable rural development, ensuring a balance between economic growth, social welfare, and environmental conservation.
“In this paragraph, I want to highlight the support of the Rural Extension of INTA through engineer Luis Grondona, who played an important role in the establishment of this secretariat and the Fundación Vida Silvestre Argentina, which is why they were with us at the presentation table,” Stelmaszczuk stated.
What functions will it fulfill
Within the new secretariat, one of the programs to be implemented is the Strengthening of rurality. The goal is to promote sustainable rural development that allows for rural settlement, with environmentally friendly activities.
To achieve this, they will make available all the means for the formulation of projects that meet the needs of families, with a strong focus on training and technical assistance.
Management of the El Molino Basin, among the main axes
Regarding the protection and conservation of the El Molino Basin, work began before the officialization of the municipal portfolio.
The main purpose is to carry out actions to raise awareness among those who reside or have farms in a radius considered “critical” or in need of care. This is to prevent future impacts on water availability in the new water intake in Colonia Aster.
To work on basin management, a Commission was created, composed of professionals, residents, and institutions, who jointly formulated a Management Plan that was presented to the Deliberative Council.
“It is a joint effort where it is necessary to involve several actors; we have created an actors’ map to coordinate specific actions,” detailed the official.
“We have carried out a characterization and delimitation of the basin with INTA from Cerro Azul because we need to know the use and distribution of natural resources and land,” he added.
Furthermore, an Environmental Education workshop was already held at the school in Colonia Aster, with the participation of the MILKA Foundation and the Instituto Superior San Pedro. It concluded with the restoration of the edge of a spring with seedlings of native species, one of the activities they plan to replicate in several locations.
Containment of garbage dumps
In this regard, as another issue to work on for Rural Development and Environment in San Pedro, they highlighted the containment of garbage dumps, mainly in the San Pedro stream.
It is essential to carry out a cleaning and restoration of its banks. “In the area located upstream of the intake, we have already surveyed the families, seen the conditions they live in, and have a landscape restoration program,” they indicated.
“Much work lies ahead; the main challenge is to ensure that the entire population gets involved so that both the basin and the people living nearby can be a little better,” they concluded.
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