Federal management of the Argentine coastal zone

Abstract

The Argentine Coastal Zone is a fluvio-maritime continuum of great climatic and biogeographic diversity that extends from the northern end of the Río de la Plata basin to the southern extreme of the Patagonian coast. This paper analyzes the changes related to coastal management in the period 2009-2019 in public policies, regulations, competencies, responsibilities, institutions, instruments, training, capacity building, financial resources, scientific knowledge, environmental information and education, and citizen participation. Among the most significant advances are the determination of the limits of the continental shelf, the more precise regulation in the reformed Civil and Commercial Code, the formulation of a Federal Coastal Management Strategy and several sectoral strategies, the creation of the first marine protected area, the increase of the postgraduate courses related to coastal management, and the expansion of the environmental contents to all levels of the education system. On the other hand, it is worth noting the scarcity of financial resources for institutional strengthening, the low incidence of citizen participation and the persistence of interjurisdictional competition conflicts. It is concluded that the sectoral model of coastal management has consolidated, with a tendency to migrate from a centralized management at the national level to a federal system with greater decision capacity for the provinces.