The Argentine Patagonia has two main ecosystems, the steppe in the east and the Andean Patagonian forest in the west. The aforementioned forests are the habitat of unique species of the ecosystem, such as the huemul, the pudu, the mountain monkey as well as other more common animals such as the puma, the wild cat, Andean mice, the guanaco, among others. At the beginning of the 1900s, the width of these forests was 90 kilometers and they cover the entire border between Argentina and Chile from the province of Neuquén, in our days due to deforestation and forest fires this strip is reduced to 45 kilometres

wide, that is to say half. Regarding its flora, the forest is made up of tall trees, where lenga, ñire, notro, maitenes, among others predominate.

Given this, the Argentine government throughout history has taken some measures such as the creation of national parks, and the creation of Law 13273 for the defense of forest wealth. Along the mountain range we can find several national parks that exist to preserve the biodiversity of these forests and the creatures that inhabit it, including the Nahuel Huapi National Park, the Los Alerces National Park, the Los Glaciares National Park and the National Park Land of Fire.

Despite the actions of the government and NGOs, these forests are retreating year by year, mainly due to three factors:

Deforestation carried out by agricultural producers.

Forest fires, caused many times by irresponsible tourists.

Invasion of external plant species, such as pines.

What can we do for the forest? To take care of the forest you must, first of all, in case of visiting it, be responsible, not to bring foreign species to it and not set fire or throw garbage in the ecosystem, we must also avoid buying products made with wood from the forests, and most of all It is important to collaborate with NGOs that work in the area.

 

The NGO Amigos de la Patagonia, in conjunction with the Ministry of the Environment of the Argentine Nation, has the objective of planting one million trees, in order to be able to reforest 40,000 hectares of forests lost in forest fires in the province of Chubut in the year 2015. You can collaborate with the foundation with 300 Argentine pesos or 5 dollars, that is, the value of a tree. Here is the link of the NGO: https://aapatagonia.org.ar/hacemosbosque/

Thank you very much for taking the time to do this reading.