The objectives of the Sustainable Natural Resources Management Project in Argentina are to improve the sustainable and efficient management of forest resources, conserve biodiversity in protected areas and forest landscapes, and integrate small producers into forestry development and conservation. There are three components to the project. The first project component consists of native forests and biodiversity. This component will support the critical first steps toward developing a national forestry program needed to bring focus and coherence to the country's forestry program, a process that will require the participation of stakeholders. It will also improve the capacity of the Native Forests Directorate to address issues in the Chaco by establishing a regional office in the area.The second project component consists of sustainable plantation forestry. The main aim of the sustainable plantation forestry component would be to: (i) establish institutional and policy frameworks conducive to more sustainable and shared growth in the plantations and agro forestry sector; (ii) raise environmental awareness plantation development; (iii) improve plantation and agro forestry productivity by supporting the generation, analysis and transfer of strategically important information; and (iv) support the integration of smallholders and small producers into the plantation and agro forestry production cycle while promoting sustainable practices among producers generally. Finally the fourth component consists of protected areas and conservation corridors. This component would have the twin objectives of strengthening National Parks Administration (APN's) capacity to manage existing national protected areas and to set the stage for expanding protection to the insufficiently protected and highly threatened Chaco ecosystem. Specifically, it aims to strengthen management capacity of eleven priority protected areas and to upgrade APN's capacity in Buenos Aires. Infrastructure, training, equipment and incremental costs would be financed in the existing parks, along with renovation and modernization of one or more of APN's historic buildings in Buenos Aires.
