Oil exploration plans in Argentine national park fuel local anger

Pedestrians forming the usual throng on Buenos Aires’ Calle Florida were surprised to encounter a large “oil drill” in the middle of the busy shopping street several weeks ago. The installation was a trademark stunt from Greenpeace. If its location was visually “absurd” it was chosen to highlight what the environmental group says is the equally absurd prospect of oil extraction taking place in one of Argentina’s most iconic national parks many miles to the north. Inaugurated in 1979, Calilegua National Park in Jujuy province covers 76,306 hectares, much of it Yungas rainforest. It is considered a biodiversity hotspot and is home to a wealth of wildlife including more than 270 bird species such as the toco toucan and the majority of the country’s most famous species like the jaguar and Andean condor. Calilegua National Park contains large tracts of pristine rainforest. Photo courtesy of Greenpeace. However, Greenpeace, local indigenous communities living on the border of the park, park rangers and local and national politicians all claim this biodiversity is at risk due to the decision to allow Chinese company JHP International Petroleum Engineering to drill for and extract oil until 2037. “Exploring for oil within a national park is absurd, illegal and, above all else, dangerous,” Hernan Giardini, a forest campaigner with Greenpeace Argentina told Mongabay. “The company presented an environmental impact study that says there are risks of contamination from oil spills, fires and landslides on more than 20,000 hectares of land, which is an…