The Argentine Republic has a native forest cover of 53.6 million hectares (ha), distributed in seven regions that range from temperate forests to subtropical forests. The loss of coverage of native forests has had a great impact on the country's forestry sector. However, deforestation continues to be relevant, despite its slowdown in recent years. Between 2006 and 2008, the annual rate of deforestation decreased from more than 360 000 hectares per year to less than 200 000 hectares per year as of 2015. The main drivers of deforestation are linked to the growth of the agricultural frontier, urbanization, of forest fires, the progress of infrastructure within the forest and mining projects. The remaining forests suffer degradation processes due to grazing or overgrazing by cattle within the forest, agricultural processes, the extraction of timber and non-timber forest products in an unsustainable way, and the invasion of non-native species.

Since Argentina’s ratification of the Paris Agreement in 2016, the country has strengthened its position of leadership, proactivity and commitment to fight against climate change. At the national level, the National Cabinet on Climate Change (NCCC) was created, bringing together national ministries involved in climate policies and includes consultation processes with civil society and the private and academic sectors. During 2017, the NCCC initiated the development of sectoral climate change action plans to organize the implementation of the country’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to the Paris Agreement. According to the last national greenhouse gas inventory (NGHGI), (for the year 2014) and submitted by Argentina to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in its Second Biennial Update Report (BUR), deforestation contributes to 14.5% of the total emissions of the country. The country recognized the key role forestry plays in achieving its NDCs goal not to exceed the net emission of 483 MtCO2eq by 2030.

In this context, and through the support of Argentina´s UN-REDD National Programme, the country made crucial progress in preparing to fight climate change in the forestry sector. The country has recently presented its national REDD+ Strategy (recently uploaded to the UNFCCC REDD+ web platform), and its working towards strengthening its National Forest Monitoring System, constructing its national interpretation of the Cancun Safeguards, in the and as further explained in this article, in the construction and submission of its Forest Reference Emission Level (FREL).

Continue reading at: https://www.unredd.net/announcements-and-news/2952-argentina-submits-its-forest-reference-emission-level-frel-and-moves-towards-accomplishing-redd-readiness.html

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