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1 September 2009 | Interviews
An Oasis in the City
Community of neighbors defends the last natural wetland of the south in Buenos Aires
length: 1:52 minutes
Download: MP3 (1.3 Mb)
Since April of 2008, neighbors of Lomas de Zamora, in the province of Buenos Aires, were warned by the imminent sale of part of the plot of land “Santa Catalina”, one of the last wetlands of the south of the province. They began to mobilize, organized bike rides and cultural events to defend 400 years of history of nature endangered by private real estate interests and by the polluting impacts of the clandestine waste dumps.
On Wednesday, the neighbors of Santa Catalina gathered outside the municipality building to protest against the creation of new zones of the green space, as it would allow the development of projects questioned by the residents.
The land, considered a Green Public Space, is managed by the National University of La Plata (UNLP) and has an approximate area of 650 hectares, a wide variety of environments, native species, lagoon, forest and park areas with historic buildings.
Its extension is equivalent to 10 times the size of green spaces and squares of Lomas de Zamora.
Analia Luna, spokesperson of the neighbor organization, told Real World Radio: “It is unbelievable that a few meters from the urban area there is still a forest here with so many plants, which is really nice to see, so we fight to defend this”.
The spokesperson also stressed the attachment that many people have with this place “the people were raised playing in what used to be Santa Catalina, they would go to drink mate at the lagoon, and that creates a certain nostalgia when they realize they can no longer go there”.
“To see that the works continue moving forward is saddening and makes us fight even more” Luna said.
