The Patagonian Sublime by Marcos Mendoza

Author:Marcos Mendoza [Mendoza, Marcos]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, General, Anthropology, Cultural & Social, Travel, Special Interest, Ecotourism, Political Science, Public Policy, Environmental Policy, Nature, Ecosystems & Habitats, Mountains, South America, Argentina, Chile & Easter Island
ISBN: 9780813596761
Google: bvy9DwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
Published: 2018-10-01T03:21:43+00:00

CIVIL-SOCIETY PARTICIPATION AND THE SUSTAINABLE TRAILS PROJECT

Civil-society actors in El Chaltén have the opportunity to promote scientific sustainability as defined by the 1997 PMLG and improved upon in the 2004 Auditoría. Land managers and rangers encourage residents to respect the zoning policies and regulations of the park, which prohibit hunting, fuel extraction, the use of horses, and any types of commercial activity not authorized by the APN. Residents are individually entreated to become environmentally conscious subjects and participants in public conservation, along with rangers and managers. Beyond this, the APN encourages residents to join NGOs, volunteering time, effort, and labor not just to promote El Chaltén as a tourist destination but also to protect the environment. Some of these NGO actions might occur outside the park, in the form of recycling campaigns, political efforts to challenge development projects like hydroelectric dams, or educational initiatives to raise consciousness about endangered species. Other NGO actions could take place inside the park, including activities related to park maintenance and biodiversity protection to ensure scientific sustainability. If NGOs seek to work inside the park on public conservation initiatives that alter the landscape or affect ecosystems, their plans have to pass bureaucratic review by the DTP.

Created and led by Rolando Garibotti, the STP was the one international NGO that operated in El Chaltén from 2008 to 2010. At the time, there were various civil-society organizations—such as a bird conservation group, the Club Andino mountaineering association, and the Cámara de Comercio—whose members were local residents. The STP was unique insofar as it brought to El Chaltén a small group of Americans who worked for the U.S. Park Service on trail crews. These Americans worked collaboratively with a volunteer group of Argentine climbers. Created to help restore a section of the severely-eroded trail leading to Laguna de los Tres at the base of Monte Fitz Roy, the STP emerged through the connections that Rolando had to U.S. climbers, alpinist organizations, and outdoor corporations. During the 1990s, Rolando had left Argentina and moved to the United States to work as a professional guide. He became friends with Yvon Chouinard, the founder of Patagonia, Inc. Rolando pitched the idea of the STP to Chouinard, who had long taken an interest in conservation work in Andean Patagonia and agreed to fund the project (Chouinard 2006). The American Alpine Club became the primary legal entity that distributed the funding and administered the project.

The STP then had to gain the APN’s approval and the imprimatur of scientific sustainability. Any modifications made to the trail system in El Chaltén had to pass muster with the DTP. To gain the APN’s approval, Rolando first hired a U.S. trail expert to prepare a scientific assessment of the erosion issue as a way to frame the remediation plan. After receiving the expert’s report, Rolando created a master plan for repairing the Laguna de los Tres trail, which was submitted to the DTP for approval. Expanding upon language in the Auditoría, the STP identified the Laguna de los Tres trail as an unsustainable path likely to lead to more ecological harm.

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