Argentina

Backgrounds and problem

Due to the accelerated growth in the touristic area, there are a certain amount of problems and potential difficulties as the incipient damage of some touristic places as a product of the pressure that is originated by the lack of conscious, the overload of some destinations, the uncontrolled exploitation and lack of adequate touristic management; the non-existence of a critical mass of touristic products properly defined in terms of the market segmentation, that obstructs a clear commercialization of touristic packages properly designed and operated by the micro and small enterprises; the non-existence of control systems on the quality of the service and the sustainability, that gives rise to heterogeneity and variability in the giving of the services, absence of the macro vision that obstructs the commercialization of the different destinations and their ordered development from a shared vision of the future.

Justification of the program

In Argentina, tourism represents an important industry according to the GNP and to the employment; nevertheless, the growth of non-sustainable tourism operations threatens the fragile ecosystems and the well-being of the local communities. For this cause we understand that the creation of a trademark that identifies the sustainable touristic destinations and allows their commercialization, strengthening the local participation and based on the preservation of the natural and cultural resources and the equal distribution of the profits generated by tourism, is a proper strategy to solve these problems.

General objetive

To promote actions for the Local Sustainable Development that allow to strengthen the different actors of the community, encouraging private and public projects and increasing the local participation in the decisions making, considering the need to improve the levels of equality, to establish strategic alliances, to give economical viability, to give technical capacitation in management and conservation of the biodiversity and administration of little and half-sized enterprises to the touristic communities, to promote the gender equity and to cooperate in the resources mobilisation.

Lines of action

Financing and Sustainability

Through individual donations and lines of national and international cooperation.

Beneficiaries

· Micro, small and medium enterprises that work in sustainable tourism or ecotourism in Argentina, who will capacitate and sensitize in the use of tools for business management and good environmental and social practices.

· Native or community groups involved or oriented in sustainable activities or ecotourism in Argentina that will improve their administrative management, their sustainability and quality.

· Local administrations that will be strengthen, incorporating new models of management through the implementation of Local Agendas 21 and practices of co-management of natural areas.

The elaboration of norms for the sustainable use of touristic places and the elaboration of management plans for the areas of public use of the natural and cultural spots will have a high strategic value for the project, so long as it will allow clear rules of use to avoid saturation and unwanted impacts which attempt against the places themselves and the competitivity of the destinations.

Strategic Allies

University for International Cooperation of Costa Rica
UNIDA Foundation(Argentina)

Manzano Amargo Project

Backgrounds

Manzano Amargo is one of the last villages closest to Los Andes Chain of Mountains, located in the Minas Department, 135 km. northwest to the historical capital of the provincial territory, Chos Malal. Here is where the Neuquen River is born, one of the main basins of Argentina.
Its communal land has 90 km of length by 30 km wide, from Ranquileo, to the south, to Los Cerrillos (Varvarco Campo y Varvarco Tapia Lagoons), to the north, and from Varvarco, to the east, until Los Llanos, to the west.

This rural village has an estimated population of 690 inhabitants, who develop different tasks, among them we find forestation, agriculture, cattle raising, teaching, electric energy service, health service through a Health Centre and activities of common good done by the Municipality, founded in 1988, which is the base of the communal organization and whose president is at the time the communal chief.

The productive activities of Manzano Amargo are:

· Forestry (it embraces more than 3000 Has.). They plant conifers of two species, ponderosa and murrayana, consisting this in the main productive motor, heading to usufruct the wooden resource in the mid and long term.

· Tourism (ecotourism), bicycle excursions, horse ridings, trekking, bird watching, nature interpretation and photographic safaris, fly fishing and rafting. Cultural, paleontological and anthropological tourism.

Lines of action in Manzano Amargo