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Soybean expansion and the challenge of the coexistence of agribusiness with local production and conservation initiatives: pesticides in a Ramsar site in Uruguay

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 March 2020

Alvaro Soutullo Open the ORCID record for Alvaro Soutullo [Opens in a new window] ,
Mariana Ríos ,
Natalia Zaldúa  and
Franco Teixeira-de-Mello Open the ORCID record for Franco Teixeira-de-Mello [Opens in a new window]
Alvaro Soutullo*
Affiliation:
Departamento de Ecología y Gestión Ambiental, Centro Universitario Regional del Este, Universidad de la República, Tacuarembó y Bulevar Artigas, Maldonado, Uruguay
Mariana Ríos
Affiliation:
Vida Silvestre Uruguay, Canelones 1198, Montevideo, Uruguay
Natalia Zaldúa
Affiliation:
Vida Silvestre Uruguay, Canelones 1198, Montevideo, Uruguay
Franco Teixeira-de-Mello
Affiliation:
Departamento de Ecología y Gestión Ambiental, Centro Universitario Regional del Este, Universidad de la República, Tacuarembó y Bulevar Artigas, Maldonado, Uruguay
*
Author for correspondence: Dr Alvaro Soutullo, Email: [email protected]
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Summary

Soybean has undergone the greatest expansion of any global crop, fuelled by the emergence of herbicide-resistant crops. In Uruguay, soybean croplands have increased from virtually zero to more than 1 million ha in 20 years. Uruguay is also implementing its system of protected areas. Here, we assess the presence of pesticides within a Ramsar site and protected area, in a basin dominated by croplands. We consider pesticides as surrogates of the subtle impacts of agribusiness on conservation initiatives and other productions. Pesticides were found in soils, fishes and beehives, both within and around the protected area. Endosulfan was found in all matrices analysed (23 of 80 samples), while glyphosate (0–2.31 mg/kg) and aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA; 0–0.61 mg/kg) were found in all soil classes. The study also allowed for a retrospective evaluation of a recent policy banning endosulfan in Uruguay, suggesting that while the protected area has not been immune to the impacts of agribusiness on human health or biodiversity, limiting the use of pesticides reduces or avoids some of them. This has implications for the design of multifunctional landscapes and for the debate on land sharing versus land sparing.

Keywords

endosulfanglyphosateland planningpesticidesprotected areasRamsarsoybean
Type
Research Paper
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 47 , Issue 2 , June 2020 , pp. 97 - 103
Copyright
© Foundation for Environmental Conservation 2020

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