the Supreme Court of Justice Today I condemn the National State, the provinces of Buenos Aires, Entre Ríos and Santa Fe and the municipalities of Rosario and Victoria for the implementation and Implement a plan to prevent pasture burning In the Paraná River Delta region.
It concerns national and regional states and municipalities implementing a Comprehensive strategic plan for conservation and sustainable use in the Paraná Delta (PIECAS-DP), as defined by the court.
This means installing the equipment and infrastructure to create information mechanisms Early warningImplementing a network of protection beacons, a systematic control plan, and a fire management plan in the Delta.
The court’s intervention came after the many fires that occurred on some of the islands Intentional and illegalwhich are related Agricultural production. Smoke and ash arrived with favorable winds to the urban centers of Buenos Aires and Santa Fe.
Within the framework of this judicial procedure, the Court warned that the implementation of measures to achieve this rests with the national, regional and municipal political authorities.
Signed by the judges Horacio Rosati, Carlos Rosencrantz, and Riccardo Lorenzettiwhich is the highest court that determined the location of the outbreak, in the municipality of Victoria, and considered that PIECAS-DP, An agreement between the states that has existed since 2008is the appropriate field for coordinating prevention policies between the nation and the provinces.
In addition, he warned that following up and monitoring the plan is not compatible with the judicial authority, because it involves a task that is not specified by the judicial authority. The cyclical nature of fires.
The case began on June 25, 2020 due to a lawsuit from Equestrian Environmental Defense Association Against the National State, the provinces of Santa Fe and Entre Ríos and the municipalities of Rosario and Victoria with the aim of ordering the effective, urgent and immediate cessation of all fire outbreaks on the islands off the coast of Rosario.
In addition, the organization requested that all necessary measures be taken to completely eliminate the indiscriminate and illegal burning of pastures that “recurs every year.”
This situation generates smoke and soot in Rosario, and affects its residents’ right to health and a healthy environment. Most of the islands correspond to the state of Entre Ríos and the municipality of Victoria. In August 2020, the Supreme Court announced that the case fell within its original jurisdiction, and ordered that the case be referred to the defendants and that the Province of Buenos Aires be summoned as a third party, considering that the dispute involved it.
It also issued a precautionary measure stipulating that the defendants must immediately form an Environmental Emergency Committee (CEA) within the framework of the Comprehensive Strategic Plan for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of the Paraná Delta (PIECAS-DP). He decided that this Committee should adopt measures to prevent, control and stop irregular fires in the Paraná Delta region, using the foundations of that strategic plan.
In its response, the national state ignored this and said that the original domain of natural resources and the responsibility for implementing protection policies and monitoring environmental systems belongs to the governorates. He pointed out that his goal is to set minimum budgets to protect the environment.
Between rivers He emphasized that the issue had become abstract because there were no active outbreaks in the Paraná Delta. He stated that measures had been taken to prevent its recurrence, and stressed that there was an “exceptional regional situation of water stress.”
Santa Fe He stated that “although fires occur outside his jurisdiction, their effects affect the territory of Santa Fe,” that burning of pastures is prohibited in his province, and that he has strengthened several measures to prevent and control fires.
Buenos Aires He considered that the governorate did not take any arbitrary or illegal measures, and that with what happened in 2020, a strategic technical plan was organized to prevent forest fires.
rosary He was questioned after being sued and stated that “the deliberate, illegal and systematic burning of the upper delta of the Parana River is geographically located (excluding the General Sabino Corsi Islands – North and South – and the General Pistarini Islands registered to the Province of Santa Fe) in the Province of Entre Ríos.”
and victory He admitted that the majority of the islands where fires break out correspond to his area, but the municipality does not have the authority to adopt measures to prevent, combat and extinguish fires.
In its ruling, the court stressed that “among the main objectives of the PIECAS-DP program appears to be to find practical and effective solutions to the problems associated with fires in the delta, which is defined as a wetland characterized by its environmental fragility.” But he said that according to the responses provided, there is no progress in this regard.
Furthermore, the Supreme Court said, “In order to integrate all actors into Argentine federalism, the development of environmental conservation policies agreed upon by the federal state and the provinces of Buenos Aires, Santa Fe and Entre Ríos through the signing of the PIECAS-DP must reasonably include the participation and commitment of municipalities.”
It therefore decided to condemn the National State, Buenos Aires, Entre Ríos, Santa Fe and the municipalities of Rosario and Victoria “for the implementation and implementation of the Comprehensive Strategic Plan for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of the Paraná Delta (PIECAS-DP).”