Draft law presented by Santiago Nardelli approved. Mining activities and film shoots prohibited within the Provincial Park.

04/11/2010

Today the draft law proposed by legislator Santiago Nardelli to upgrade the status of the mountain regions Tornquist Partidos, Coronel Pringles, Coronel Suárez and Saavedra to “Protected Areas”, thus prohibiting all types of mining and/or hydrocarbon explorations and/or operations, and favoring the protection of the environment and the development of sustainable tourism, was today was approved unanimously at the Senate of Buenos Aires Province.

The initiative, which came about following several tours of the region and extended discussions with local residents and authorities, recognizes the mountain area of the aforementioned parties as a "Protected Area of ​​Provincial Interest” and has the aim of conserving and preserving the integrity of the natural landscape of the area, in terms of its geographic, geomorphologic, touristic and urban value. This legislation states that the protected landscape includes areas where natural processes occur in conjunction with man-made processes, and that these need a degree of protection in order to guarantee that they are preserved in the future.

Santiago Nardelli said that he was, “Very pleased with the way that the project had been received, both during the earlier work with committees and within the local area, where it was approved with complete consensus. Now comes the hard task of starting to work on the project together with all of the stakeholders within the region, whilst waiting for the final sanction from parliamentarians, which is due to come at some point in the first few months of next year.”

"One step closer."

“The mountains are a central element in the identity of the region’s inhabitants, as well as being an important tourist attraction. The area’s tourism is primarily based on the natural landscape, and has a large economic and demographic impact on the region and throughout the province. It is thus important to preserve the mountain ranges and ensure that this fundamental characteristic of the region remains unspoiled from an environmental and geographic point of view, quite aside from the terrible consequences (both for humans and the environment) that the negative development of mining activities can have. With this law we have made another step towards looking after the environment and protecting our territories and our provincial heritage,” maintained the legislator.