ARBOREA: an application to recognize the trees of the Yungas

The  Proyungas Foundation  is a non-governmental organization whose purpose is the  preservation of the environment and sustainable development  . For more than 20 years he has been active in the South American subtropic, especially in the  northwestern region of our country , since this area has a  rich and wide environmental and cultural diversity.  On the occasion of celebrating a new anniversary since its creation, he decided to launch  a platform in conjunction with the celebration  of National Tree Day on August 29. This is  ARBOREA , which will allow to  identify and know the native species  of  northwest Argentina. 

The president of the ProYungas Foundation,  Alejandro Brown, explained that yungas are, without a doubt, a source of water, necessary for agribusiness, irrigation and human consumption.For Brown, caring for nature is one of the great challenges facing our country when the pandemic ends  and a “new normality” is put into operation. The answer is to develop production models that take into account the  social and environmental dimensions. 

After its second decade of existence during the pandemic, it was decided to vindicate  the importance and value of the link between human beings and nature,  one of the current concerns for societies around the world. The ARBOREA Application was developed by the SIGA (Environmental Geographic Information System) and offers the search for the  274 species,  which also includes some palm trees and cacti,  1367 photographs and 177 distribution maps  . It can be downloaded to the cell phone and provides information on each species associated with a descriptive sheet with data on the conservation and distribution status, as well as drawings that help to better interpret, among other things.

The initiative arose from the joint work of researchers and technicians of the Proyungas Foundation and the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences of the National University of Jujuy. The Faculty of Natural Sciences, the Miguel Lillo Institute of the National University of Tucumán and the Miguel Lillo Foundation also participated. Finally, the drawings were contributed by the Darwinion Institute of Botany.

20 years of environmental commitment

The Proyungas Organization carries out an important task of territorial planning processes at different scales. The aim of the association is to promote and promote the  sustainable development  of an area as important as  the Yungas  and to promote private projects and public policies. It actively collaborates with other government agencies, NGOs, academic or technical institutions, businesses and communities.

One of the greatest achievements is closely linked to the work of  rural communities generating training programs in production, product offerings and socio-environmental services through education on the care of the planet. To date he works in the areas of Dpto. Valle Grande, Jujuy; Municipality of Los Toldos, Salta; Municipality Lomitas, Formosa; Community Property El Espinillo, Chaco. In turn, it is concerned about waste management, fire management and green spaces in urban areas of the provinces of  Tucumán  and Jujuy.

The Yungas area extends from the department of Santa Cruz (Bolivia) to the province of Catamarca and, together with the  missionary forest,  constitutes one of the environments with the greatest amount of flora and fauna in the Argentina.