Forestry Science in Argentina through the Figure of Lucas Tortorelli, 1936–1972
Forestry Science in Argentina through the Figure of Lucas Tortorelli, 1936–1972
- Ignacio García-PeredaIgnacio García-PeredaUniversidade de Lisboa
Summary
In the second third of the 20th century, the emergence and consolidation of forest science in Argentina gave birth to the idea that sustained forest development was indeed possible, for which the application of the appropriate principles and methods would be sufficient.
The story of Argentina’s first forestry law can be studied through the concept of ecological diplomacy. It points to the diplomatic strategies mobilized by a small group of foresters with managerial skills. Forest science arrived in Argentina through the mediation of Lucas Tortorelli (1908–1978), one of the most notorious foresters of 20th-century South America, and French and Spanish forestry norms.
The first Argentinian professional foresters played an important role in shaping the course of forest management during the second third of the 20th century. It is to figures such as Tortorelli and Adamo that the credit for the introduction of scientific methods of management is given. They introduced professionalism into national forest administration and national parks administration. It is argued that the systematic forestry introduced was along the lines of forestry developed in very different social and ecological conditions, and that its development was greatly constrained by national interests.
In their years in charge of Argentina’s public forests, the first national foresters systematically set about applying the principles of forestry developed within the European tradition to the American forests. Echoing foresters such as Guinier, they stated that the objectives of forest management involved ensuring the effective protection of forests against natural and human destruction—devising a good system to secure the regeneration of the forest, and determining rules that govern the working of the forest and the expansion of wood products. The aim of forestry, they always repeated, was to steadily improve the condition of forests and never to cut more than the annual production by natural or artificial means will justify. Implicit in this mandate was the basic principle of European forestry—sustainable production and harvesting with the long-term needs of the economy at the fore.
Subjects
- Environmental History