Over 200 families live in 1200 hectares of the reserve and their livelihood is agroecological production, with which they provide food for other populations.

On May 15 there was a mobilization to demand protection for the reserve, which was declared part of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves by the UNESCO in 2008. “It will be a disaster if a highway is built across the park”, said Elena Senattori, daughter of one of the first people to inhabit the place.

Meanwhile, the Assembly of the Pereyra Iraola Biosphere Reserve demanded attention and requested the “immediate” creation of a Management Committee with the participation of the population and organizations working on the management of protected areas.

The assembly was the result of an initiative by the families living in the reserve with the aim to claim dignified living conditions. The assembly is made up by forest rangers, rural workers, students and social organizations.

The population grow and raise their own vegetables and animals in 6-hectare fields. “There is diversity in the park”, said Senattori. “With the building of the highway they will destroy the only lung we have in the area”.

According to Senattori, the building companies showed the plans to the population and told people that they should not worry because they were going to be “relocated”.

“Our struggle is to prevent this highway from becoming another environmental disaster”, concluded Senattori.

Photo: Autopista fuera del Parque Pereyra!