The Pros And Cons Of The Gran Chaco

The South American Gran Chaco is the second largest biome in South America following behind the infamous Amazon Rain Forrest. The Gran Chaco overlaps Argentina, Paraguay, and Bolivia along with a very small portion in Brazil. The Gran Chaco is semi-arid and is mainly characterized by its savannas and woodland. In the past few decades there has been growing concern about the environmental issues that the Gran Chaco faces. The environmental harm from multinational agribusiness and resource extraction corporations and transnational development plans is not only bad ecologically, but it also affects the small communities and indigenous people living off the Gran Chaco.

As the world’s population grows the demand for food and agribusiness increases.

Multinational corporations like Monsanto claim that GM crops require fewer applications of herbicide compared to non-GM crops, which reduces the harm to the environment. However, in South America the standard before adoption of GM crops was agricultural traditions that often times did not include any chemicals intensive means to treat weeds. This means that even though GM crops might take less herbicide compared to typical standards in North America, GM crops are ultimately causing more herbicide to be used in South America. There is also a concern that “as chemical control of weeds becomes the norm in developing country agriculture, the potential exists for the emergence of herbicide resistance species that do not respond to the increased chemical treatments.” This only promotes the use of more herbicide which increases the harm to the environment. There are also problems because GM crops have toxins in them. While they are meant to deter pests, they can end up hurting good insects and birds as well. Besides this, there will ultimately be pests that emerge which will be able to resist the toxins. Rendering that benefit of the GM crop useless.

Beside the problems stemming from the fact these crops are genetically modified, there are other problems because of mono-cropping. Mono-cropping reduces the genetic diversity of crops in the region which leads to an increase in the change of famine. Mono-cropping is also more taxing on

The IIRSA was created in 2000 with the support of all twelve South American countries (excluding French Guiana). Its focus is on international projects around infrastructure, transportation, communications, and energy. It receives support from multilateral and national development banks like the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Andean Development Corporation (CAF) and the Fund to Develop the Plata River Basin (FONPLATA). It should be noted that the IIDSA is now incorporated in the South American Infrastructure and Planning Council (COSIPLAN), which was created in January 2009. However, the COSIPLAN is still commonly refer to as the IIRSA. Although this development has economic benefits, they come at the cost of the environment and the people living off the land. The Bank Information Center, a National Governmental Organization (NGO) that works with locals in developing countries to influence the World Bank and other international financial institutions to promote social and economic justice and environmental sustainability,