by Analí Bustos, Argentina
My name is Analí Bustos, I’m 30 years old and I’m from Argentina. I have a Bachelor’s in Biological Sciences, a Master’s degree in Ecology and Nature Conservation and I’m currently a Ph.D. student at the University of Buenos Aires. I’m focusing my career on landscape restoration (specifically in forests and agroecosystems landscapes).
For the lastest five years, I have been part of the Monte Alegre Nature Reserve, a forest restoration project located in the province of Córdoba (Argentina); this province has lost 95% of its forest cover in less than one hundred years. One of those forest ecosystems is called Espinal, and is characterized by xerophilous vegetation with great biological diversity. Being located on flat and fertile land, they have been affected by the expansion of agricultural activities, so today, all that is left are small patches of degraded forest.
For some, restoring the Espinal forests may seem like an extremely difficult task. I think it’s worth a try and, furthermore, my team and I are succeeding. At the present, Monte Alegre’s future project is seen as an expansion in each of its areas, and I’m going to put the achievements in numbers; small but infinitely significant numbers. Our restoration project has welcomed 55 new volunteers. We build our own greenhouse nursery that will increase our plant production every year. Ten hectares of exotic plant species were removed, giving rise to the first 500 daughter plants of the forest, which are being reintroduced to increase the prevalence of native trees. An incredible leadership team of eight was formed, who have a coherent vision and are committed to helping this project grow.
We contacted two other organizations and agreed to work together. We started biodiversity censuses in two biological groups (plants and birds). We reached an agreement with the regional school that the forest will be used for the environmental education of its students. The owners of the rural property on which Monte Alegre is located have come to appreciate the value of the landscape and have begun the transition to agroecological practices, tuning the initiative into a truly holistic project. We attended two in-person networking events on nature restoration and conservation – and numerous online events – to spread the word about our work.
Although these figures are important, I think there is something else that cannot be measured, and that is that we have helped many people to realize that the forest is life: that we need it, and that it needs us today. The key to restoring ecosystems will be to get more and more people to take up this task—to take up this fight, along with crucial changes at the economic and political level.
I hope Monte Alegre will be the first of many other restored forests on my way. I also hope to continue learning and growing in this exciting profession, and most of all I want to inspire other young people and girls to join me on this amazing journey of restoring nature.
This video was submitted as part of the World Forestry Congress forest change-maker video competition. You can see all accepted entries here. Shortlisted finalists and winners will be announced later in February.
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