An Overview Of Our Solution
The Bahia Samborombón wetlands has a unique biodiversity and provides irreplaceable ecological functions and fundamental natural services essential for the preservation of terrestrial and coastal ecosystems and surrounding settlements. It is home to the endangered pampas deer, of which there are currently only 150 deer left in Buenos Aires province (30 million ha), with a 4% annual population decrease which will lead to its extinction in the next 30 years. The challenge is to improve beef production while conserving biodiversity and ensure that pampas deer can re-colonize inland areas, which are less vulnerable to climate change. Our solution includes a production model and rural extension to producers and local community in order to guarantee diverse environmental services and conservation of the biodiversity of native grasslands.
Who is this solution impacting?
Community Type
Rural
Additional Information
- Population Impacted:
- Continent: South America
General Information
Organization type
Sin fines de lucro/No Gubernamental
Ecosystem (select all that apply)
Grasslands
Population impacted
Aprox. 13,000
Challenge
Size of agricultural area
Aprox. 20,000 ha
Production quantity
Aprox. 1,200,000 kilos
People employed
Aprox. 50
Solution
Describe your solution
Our solution includes a production model developed by The University of Buenos Aires, which sustains the diverse environmental services and biodiversity of grasslands, while achieving best practices through grassland stewardship and sustainable ranching. It also encourages and facilitates the promotion of management options among ranchers such as conservation-friendly rangeland management, beef production in natural grasslands, roadside and fencerow management, and by using conservation-friendly policies and incentives such as management agreements and conservation easements. Along with Aves Argentina, we developed a training kit aimed at producers, students and ranch advisors that reconciles production – even increasing stocking rates- with biodiversity conservation. Moreover, the development of a marketing strategy that increases the promotion of grass-fed beef is already showing the first positive signs for producer access to sustainable agricultural markets. Most importantly, we have found that beef production can coexist with conservation objectives to ensure habitat for grasslands birds and habitat and quality forage for the pampas deer in Samborombón. The University of Mar del Plata has recognized that strict grassland bird species can be conserved under this production model and the Pampas Deer National Plan also recognizes that the species can be conserved in situ using this production model.
Implementation
Describe your implementation
This model of controlled grazing in the humid grasslands considers paddocking and field management per environment, as well as grazing management with requirements of both herd and grasslands. This system, based on the development of process technologies, has already been tested successfully in the Pampas grasslands, demonstrating the ability to maintain biodiversity and increase beef production. At the same time, it offers a superior business model to other options available in the area, with lower investments that avoid sharp fluctuations in the economy as a result of variability in the price of meat and inputs or climate. Four farms in Samborombón voluntarily joined our Wildlife Refuges network and are part of a group of private reserves implementing sustainable livestock practices, a challenge that involves both the conservation of wildlife and beef production. These farms are implementing a rotational livestock management plan since 2010 with excellent production and conservation results. This production model has been approved by the National Plan for the Conservation of the Pampas deer in Argentina. The incorporation of these practices to the management plans of protected areas and neighboring fields will allow the presence of native species and their integration into sustainable farming systems. In a context of interdisciplinary and participatory work with farmers, extension agents, researchers, public officials and businessmen linked to the livestock sector, the project managed to achieve a model of sustainable grassland livestock which improves both production and conservation of natural grasslands and their associated biodiversity. The key now is scaling this management model to all areas left with natural grasslands. This process began in 2010 and has gained traction within universities and government, and work ahead will mainly be focused on the adoption at a greater scale and in federal and provincial agriculture programs.
External connections
Our efforts as an NGO have been focused in creating aliances between different actors, including government at different levels, protected areas system, agricultural institutes, producers and academia. This includes Aves Argentinas (www.avesargentinas.org.ar), Alianza del Pastizal (www.alianzadelpastizal.org), INTA :: Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (inta.gob.ar) and the University of Buenos Aires, among others.
Results
What is the environmental or ecological challenge you are targeting with your solution?
The Bahia Samborombón wetlands has a unique biodiversity and provides irreplaceable ecological functions and fundamental natural services. Recently, Bahia Samborombón has been identified as being affected by climate change, with consequences affecting production, local population, biodiversity and ecosystem services. Intensification of production activities is leading to the transformation and degradation of the argentine Pampas grasslands, one of the richest agricultural regions in the world. There are currently only 150 deer left in Buenos Aires province (30 million ha), and the population has suffered a 4% annual decrease which will lead it to extinction in the next 30 years. The challenge is to improve beef production while conserving biodiversity and ensure a pampas deer population with an increasing trend that can re-colonize inland areas, which are less vulnerable to climate change.
Describe the context in which you are operating
This vast plain was mainly a livestock breeding area, but has undergone major changes in land use and agricultural management, due to the introduction of GMO soybeans and tillage systems. Only approximately 8% of the original grasslands remains. Livestock farming is still the predominant activity in Samborombón, which is developed in extensive breeding systems. The rising sea levels and erosion process cause a shift of the coastal area inland, reducing the surface for farming, while redistributing forage resources and causing the loss of natural pastures and deterioration of groundwater. This shift in areas intended for livestock inland lead to potential conflicts of land use, access to fresh water and biodiversity. The pampas deer population in Samborombón is mostly located in protected coastal areas and bordering private ranches. Cattle affect the deer, generating changes in habitat selection and deteriorating the scarce good quality forage. Our management solution allows the conservation of the remnant grasslands and its associated biodiversity with beef production with high economic gain.
How did you impact natural resource use and greenhouse gas emissions?
Our model allows for production to increase while conserving the native grasslands. It can also be applied in degraded areas as restoration measures. Maintaining areas without livestock and with different species of native grasses increases biodiversity, particularly of grassland birds. Also, cattle have negative effects on the pampas deer, generating changes in habitat selection and deteriorating the scarce, good quality forage. This can affect the condition of individuals, delaying their sexual maturity and decreasing reproductive rates. This problem of forage deterioration becomes even more relevant given the increasing impacts of climate change on the area, mainly due to a greater recurrence of strong storms and extreme tides affecting the current range of the species. Therefore, the extension of our successful proposal to strategic areas of the distribution of the Pampas deer in cattle ranches in Samborombón, accompanied by education and awareness actions, are urgent measures that must be applied with the participation of producers, professionals, field staff, local public officials and park rangers in the region.
Language(s)
Spanish
Water
Maintaining native grasslands in place under production will ensure water infiltration and quality. Freshwater is very scare in the area due to the ocean´s influence.
Food Security/Nutrition
The proposed production model is the most stable for the region. Therefore, variations in climate and market prices have less influence over this model than others (land conversion for agriculture).
Economic/Sustainable Development
Livestock production involves the work of more people which retains them in rural areas and also conserves traditional values more than mainstream agriculture.
Climate
The proposed model sequesters carbon and uses less inputs, agrochemicals and fuel than others, while conserving grasslands and wetlands, and their ecological functions and biodiversity.
Sustainability
The economic sustainability is that this model is good business. A producer will be better off (accumulates more richness) in the long run by applying this type of management while improving the conservation state of the ecosystem. It is a win-win scenario. The success has depended on all three types of funding: grants to install demonstration units, generate information and train, market-based revenues (certification schemes such as the Grasslands Alliance Regional Initiative), and lastly, the active participation of the municipalities in the development and application of incentives.
Return on investment
The initial investment was via a grant to implement the demonstration units, generate material and rural extension. This was in conjunction with our presence in the area over the past 35 years and included the donation of Campos del Tuyú National Park in 2009. We have invested heavily during the last 9 years in education and training in sustainable livestock management. The results have proven that it is possible to produce very well while conserving biodiversity and have proven scientifically and in situ that the conservation of the pampas deer is possible within this model. The Pampas deer population decreased where this model was not incorporated and showed improvement in the areas where it was.
Entrant Image
Replication and Scale
How could we successfully replicate this solution elsewhere?
This proposed model is replicable to the entire Cuenca del Salado (9.207.700 ha). It is currently being applied in farms associated with the Grasslands Alliance Initiative (in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay grasslands). In Argentina, we are currently training producers, students and professionals in implementing this model. The funding required at this stage is to cover staff costs and costs to travel to the area in order to ensure our presence. Also, there is a need to provide the producers that want to implement this model with funds to install the management practices in their field.