Bridging ecosystem services and territorial planning (BEST-P): a southern South American initiative

The BEST-P project investigates the relationship between land cover dynamics and ecosystem services in southern South America, specifically focusing on carbon and water regulation. Using remote sensing and field studies, the project has quantified the impacts of deforestation and afforestation in the Chaco region, analyzed the influence of different landholder types on conservation, and developed tools to integrate biophysical and human dimensions into territorial planning. The initiative also provides evidence to support legal actions against illegal deforestation in Argentina by demonstrating cross-province climatic impacts.

• In the semiarid Chaco, forest patches positively influence the drainage of agricultural fields, and spatial analysis is being used to determine landscape configurations that minimize groundwater recharge.
• Afforestation in the analyzed micro-watershed reduced water yield by 5.4%, with evapotranspiration (ET) in afforested areas being 22% higher than in grasslands, where ET is typically 2.5 mm/day.
• Replacing forests with annual crops in the Chaco region leads to a loss of 66 Mg C/ha from aboveground biomass and a 40% loss of carbon from the top 1m of soil, negatively impacting erosion protection, water regulation, and climate.
• Water harvesting infrastructure is significantly more prevalent in Paraguay (1 per km2) than in Argentina (0.1 per km2), with Paraguay harvesting nearly 5 mm/year of rainfall primarily on pastures, compared to less than 0.5 mm/year in Argentina, mostly in forests.
• Analysis of 14 groups of land users in the Chaco revealed that smallholders have more stable productivity seasonally and inter-annually, while more capitalized groups exhibit larger field sizes and more divergent seasonality.
• Transitioning to a multifunctional landuse regime could increase productivity by 35-65% without compromising avian habitat for pre-productivist landholders, and increase conservation outcomes by 30-50% without significantly reducing productivity for productivist landholders.
• Research demonstrating that deforestation in one province affects the climate of another has enabled the transfer of illegal deforestation trials from provincial to federal courts in Argentina, potentially increasing the transparency of the Native Forests Act.

APA

Paruelo, J. M., Laterra, P., Lara, A., Nahuelhual, L., Altesor, A., Filardo, V., Berbery, H., Bocco, G., & Auer, A. (2024). Bridging ecosystem services and territorial planning (BEST-P): a southern South American initiative. Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research. https://iai.int/en/best-p-vinculos-entre-los-servicios-ecosistemicos-y-el-planeamiento-territorial-una-iniciativa-para-el-sur-de-sudamerica-crn-3095/

Chicago

Paruelo, José M., Pedro Laterra, Antonio Lara, Laura Nahuelhual, Alice Altesor, Verônica Filardo, Hugo Berbery, Gerardo Bocco, and Alejandra Auer. Bridging ecosystem services and territorial planning (BEST-P): a southern South American initiative. Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research, 2024. https://iai.int/en/best-p-vinculos-entre-los-servicios-ecosistemicos-y-el-planeamiento-territorial-una-iniciativa-para-el-sur-de-sudamerica-crn-3095/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Paruelo |first1=José M. |last2=Laterra |first2=Pedro |last3=Lara |first3=Antonio |last4=Nahuelhual |first4=Laura |last5=Altesor |first5=Alice |last6=Filardo |first6=Verônica |last7=Berbery |first7=Hugo |last8=Bocco |first8=Gerardo |last9=Auer |first9=Alejandra |title=Bridging ecosystem services and territorial planning (BEST-P): a southern South American initiative |publisher=Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research |date=22 September 2024 |url=https://iai.int/en/best-p-vinculos-entre-los-servicios-ecosistemicos-y-el-planeamiento-territorial-una-iniciativa-para-el-sur-de-sudamerica-crn-3095/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{paruelo2024bridging, author = {Paruelo, José M. and Laterra, Pedro and Lara, Antonio and Nahuelhual, Laura and Altesor, Alice and Filardo, Verônica and Berbery, Hugo and Bocco, Gerardo and Auer, Alejandra}, title = {{Bridging ecosystem services and territorial planning (BEST-P): a southern South American initiative}}, institution = {Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research}, year = {2024}, month = sep, url = {https://iai.int/en/best-p-vinculos-entre-los-servicios-ecosistemicos-y-el-planeamiento-territorial-una-iniciativa-para-el-sur-de-sudamerica-crn-3095/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }