The environmental organization Greenpeace has raised alarms about the significant reduction in the budget allocated to the Forest Law for 2026. According to their analysis, the lack of funding and the dissolution of the trust funds responsible for its administration severely compromise the control of illegal deforestation and conservation policies across the country.
The 2026 National Budget Project allocates only 3.5% of the resources established by law for the protection of native forests. This, warns Greenpeace, weakens the capacity of provincial governments to control deforestation, as 30% of those funds are used to strengthen institutions and the rest to conserve ecosystems or promote sustainable activities.
The situation is exacerbated by the dissolution of the Trust Fund for the Environmental Protection of Native Forests, ordered in 2024. This instrument ensured that the money collected was used exclusively for conservation. Now, resources could be redirected to other purposes, leaving preservation actions without financial support.
Argentina is among the 15 countries with the highest deforestation in the world. From 1998 to 2023, it lost about 7 million hectares of native forests, and in 2024 alone, 150,000 hectares more disappeared, according to Greenpeace’s satellite monitoring. Much of this loss occurs in northern Argentina, where the advance of the agricultural frontier continues without effective control.
The Forest Law in Danger
The Minimum Budget Law for Environmental Protection of Native Forests, approved in 2007, was a milestone in Argentine environmental policy. Its objective is to stop deforestation and promote a sustainable use of the land through the classification of forests according to their conservation value (high, medium, or low).
It also establishes a National Fund for the Enrichment and Conservation of Native Forests, which should finance provincial projects and compensate local communities for protecting these ecosystems.
By law, this fund must represent 0.3% of the National Budget plus 2% of agricultural export duties. However, this amount has never been met. In 2026, the planned funding is one of the lowest since its creation, threatening to paralyze conservation, restoration, and monitoring programs.
Greenpeace warns that this situation not only endangers the forests but also the communities that depend on them for their livelihood. Native forests act as carbon sinks, regulate water, prevent erosion, and sustain enormous biodiversity. Without funds or control, illegal deforestation, fires, and soil degradation increase.
An Urgent Call to Action
For Greenpeace, the setback in forest policy reflects a lack of state commitment in the face of the climate crisis. The organization insists that the country must comply with international environmental protection standards and strengthen control over activities that destroy ecosystems.
The weakening of the Forest Law, coupled with the shortage of forest brigades and the dissolution of the Fire Management funds, anticipates a worrying scenario: less prevention, less oversight, and more environmental impacts.
“Without a solid forest policy, Argentine forests will continue to disappear at an alarming rate,” warns the organization. Greenpeace calls for the restoration of the Trust Fund, the full compliance with legal funding, and a national strategy that prioritizes conservation over short-term economic interests.
