Native forests are an essential part of environmental care, as they not only host a large amount of flora and fauna, but also help regulate the climate and prevent floods. For this reason, the Ministry of Production of La Pampa released details on the control operations for the protection of the province’s native forest.
In this sense, the General Directorate of Natural Resources reported that the non-compliance with Provincial Forest Law No. 2620 affected approximately 1,331 hectares. This information emerged from the report based on the controls carried out on forest production throughout 2024. These controls were created with the purpose of ensuring compliance with rules that aim to guarantee sustainable use, exploitation, and conservation of the resource.
Those in charge of these tasks stated that they decided to take action against these breaches, which is why they acted “to prevent the continuation of the infringing and harmful activity on the forest in each case, for which the corresponding sanctions were drawn up and imposed”.
According to the control results, 68% of the irregularities correspond to interventions in the forest. On the other hand, it was highlighted that deforestation is the most common issue, followed by clear-cutting and the exploitation of forest products, with manual tree thinning being the least frequent.
In 2024, 1,331 hectares of native forests were affected by deforestation.
Most affected native forest areas according to controls
According to the survey conducted by the province of La Pampa, the most affected native forest region is the Hucal department, where the highest proportion of infractions is concentrated, followed by Caleu Caleu, Toay, Atreucó, and Lihuel Calel. In addition, there were violations, albeit to a lesser extent, in Conhelo, Capital, and Rancul.
The report details that “the total amount collected from fines for this concept was $22,793,810 to the date of this note, with fines for deforestation or land use change representing the highest income at $17,403,571.72″.
On the other hand, it was noted that sanctions for transporting forest products involved the seizure of 85,520 kilograms of logs from native species and others planted, such as poplars and elms.
The most affected native forest region is the Hucal department.
Other infractions
Among the infractions mentioned, 25% were issued due to irregularities in transporting forest products, followed by storage activities, which accounted for 7% of the penalties.
For this reason, the controlling authority decided to act based on the received complaints as well as on the observation of changes in the native forest, these being the signs that served to organize the corresponding inspections in the territory.
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