Perceptions of deforestation in the Argentinean Chaco: Combining Q-method and environmental justice

The Gran Chaco, Latin America’s second largest forest after the Amazon, has one of the highest deforestation rates worldwide. In the province of Salta, Argentina, the deforestation rate is particularly high, with substantial environmental and social impacts. The province is characterized by the presence of various actors (large-scale producers, small-scale farmers, indigenous peoples, governmental actors, civil society), who are differently exposed to the impacts of deforestation. To better understand this unequal exposure, the paper looks at deforestation from a perspective of environmental justice. As justice is strongly dependent on the local context, we focus on capturing the perceptions of stakeholders on deforestation. We use Q-method, which combines qualitative and quantitative methods to study perceptions. Our results point to the existence of three significant perspectives. The first one, labelled “Development” perspective ranks distribution as the most important dimension. The second one labelled “Family agriculture” perspective stresses the significance of procedural issues. The third one labelled “Subsistence” perspective elaborates mainly on matters of recognition. We conclude that, in order to slow down deforestation, it would be essential to create conditions where marginalized actors are given priority, to facilitate their participation and grant their rights with respect to land use.