Salta deforestation threatens Wichí indigenous territories

More than 3,300 hectares of native forest have been cleared in the rural area of Tartagal, Salta, since early August. The deforestation is occurring on the Tonono, Alcoba, and Caraguatá estates, affecting the ancestral territories and livelihoods of ten Wichí indigenous communities.

Greenpeace Argentina has denounced the activity as an “ecocide,” noting that bulldozers have reached within meters of homes in the Pozo Nuevo community. While residents managed to protect a small local cemetery from the machinery, the area remains under threat. Greenpeace argues the deforestation is illegitimate because the province of Salta is not respecting the ancestral territoriality documented by the National Institute of Indigenous Affairs (INAI).

The environmental damage follows a recent reform to Salta’s Native Forest Land Use Planning, which reclassified areas like Pozo Nuevo and Tonono from “yellow” to “dark yellow,” allowing for changes in land use. Greenpeace has criticized the provincial government for a lack of transparency regarding authorizations and for complicity in the destruction of well-conserved forests.