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ANTEATER NEWS
- December 2014-

THE NATIONAL SYSTEM FOR THE PROTECTION OF MARITME AREAS HAS BECOME LAW

On November 19th the Nation s Chamber of Deputies unanimously approved the law for the creation of a National System of Marine
Protected Areas, thereby establishing a regulatory framework for a representative network of MPAs.
Approval of the project means a further step towards protection of the sea and the creation of more protected areas following the
setting up of NAMUNCURA Protected area (Burdwood Bank) which was promoted by Fundacin Vida Silvestre Argentina (FVSA) on
the 2013s Earth Hour Campaign.
FVSA, together with other civil organizations was part of the process, providing technical information on the matter and
participating in meetings with key figures.

SUSTAINABLE FISHERIES (X 2 ): SMART FISHING INITIATIVE + SOUTHERN CONE ALLIANCE

Between November 17th and 21st FVSA hosted the WWF s SMART FISHING INITIATIVE meeting, for representatives of the
network s Fishing Programs . Taking advantage of the occasion the Southern Cone s Alliance met a regional initiative of WWF;
FVSA participated together with Fishing Programs of WWF Chile and WWF Peru.
Within the Southern Cone Alliance s meeting a seminar was held on the challenges faced by commercial fishing in our country and
the region, with the presence of Dr. Miguel Bustamante, Argentine Undersecretary for Fisheries and Aquaculture; Marco Espino
Sanchez, counselor of the Ministry of Production of Peru, and Paolo Trejo, Head of the Legal Department of the Chilean Undersecretariat of Fisheries. As part of the activities there was a visit to the port to see close-ups of the working of the System for
Monitoring and Satellite Control of fishing boats.

FVSAs PRESENCE IN IUCN WORLD PARKS CONGRESS

Andrea Michelson, Protected Areas Program Coordinator, and Alejandro Arias, Pennsula Valds Project Coordinator, partook of
IUCN s World Parks Congress that took place in Sydney between December 12th and 19th.
They have participated in workshops on sustainable financing and the high level political influence on the management of Marine
Protected Areas organized by WWF Netherlands. They presented papers on Marine Spatial Planning, an ecosystem approach where
they analyzed the FVSAs work on Valdes Peninsula.

WILDLIFE SAFARIS

Over the week end of December 15th and 16th FVSA s first educational wildlife Safari of 2014 took place on Martin Garcia Island- a
Nature Reserve protected for its great conservation value.
Our educational safaris are camps that mix the adventure of exploring the richness of our Protected Areas System together with fun
and learning about the value of Nature. Families, youngsters and children are invited to live experiences in an atmosphere of
cheerfulness, the spirit of cooperation and appreciation of natural habitats.

ARGENTINA S PRIVATE NATURE RESERVES NETWORK: 187.000 HECTARES UNDER PROTECTION

Under the motto Share to Protect, the first national meeting for Private Nature Reserves was held in Colon, Entre Rios Province.
The object is to amalgamate associations, foundations, land owners and committed individuals in the conservation of private lands in
the country, including government organizations, to integrate, strengthen and enlarge voluntary conservation and sustainable use
initiatives on biological diversity and cultural heritage on lands under private ownership in Argentina.
The meeting organized by the network of private nature reserves is an initiative that includes some 55 reserves distributed in 15
provinces, and 17 organizations. The members work to protect over 187.000 privately owned hectares in the country.
This initiative comes under the framework of FVSA s Strengthening Conservation on Private Lands project with funding from
FONDO PARA LAS AMERICAS (a joint initiative from the Environment Secretary and the US Embassy).

SUSTAINABLE LIVESTOCK ON THE GRASSLANDS: 50% INCREASE IN MEAT PRODUCTION

Sustainable Animal Husbandry on Grasslands. Production together with conservation is possible. is the publication FVSA
produced after 3 years of work on the project; Natural Grasslands and Savannahs of the Southern Cone of South America:
Initiatives for their conservation in Argentina to encourage sustainable cattle breeding on grasslands.
Trials under way showed that it is possible to achieve duplication on the number of animals carried while improving the condition of
the grasslands for biodiversity allowing for increases of over 50% in the production of beef. At the same time FVSA devised a
market strategy promoting Grassland Beef which is already showing positive signs of allowing such producers to get into new and
sustainable markets.
Production together with conservation is not only possible but a great opportunity for genuine sustainable development in cattle
management in Argentina.

SUSTAINABLE CATTLE RANCHING CROSSES BORDERS

With teams from WWF Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay we are putting together a regional sustainable cattle ranching initiative.
According

to

the

official

statistics

of

FAO

organization

for

Feeding

and

Agriculture

(Http//www.fao.org/againfo/resources/en/glw/GLW dens.html) South America is one of the regions with greatest beef
production and density of cattle ranching in the world, especially in Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Columbia, Ecuador and
Bolivia, together representing over 30 % of global beef production.
With this objective in mind Fernando Miarro, Pablo Preliasco, Eugenia Periago y David Bilenca (FVSAs members of the team) held
a meeting in Buenos Aires with Victor Hugo Magallanes of WWF Bolivia and Luca Eufemia (WWF Paraguay) plus the participation of
Maria del Carmen Fleytas of WCS Paraguay and Silvia Marin ( WWF LAC) who took part by video connection. The project is in the
stage of fund-raising for implementation till 2020.
The meeting included a presentation by Ian McConnel, Coordinator of WWF Sustainable Beef, within the framework of the Market
Transformation Initiative (MTI) from where the Global Round-table for Sustainable Beef is promoted. FVSA actively partakes in
meeting to promote the experiences it developed in Argentina, thereby providing for the region and the world the concrete and
pertinent material for sustainable cattle breeding compatible with conservation and biodiversity.