Buenos Aires - Greenpeace activists protested the production of soybean bio-diesel in Argentina Friday, decorating German SUVs with bulldozer shovels and German flags. The action was meant to convey a message that foreign demand for Argentinian bio-diesel threatens vast tracks of old growth forest, Greenpeace's Mariana Ciaschini told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
The action, which included an assembly of tree stumps arranged in front of the SUVs, took place at the Department of Agriculture in Buenos Aires.
According to Greenpeace, the quantity of bio-fuel scheduled for production in Argentina would require that some 9 million hectares of forest be cleared to accommodate soybean production.
"The development is alarming," said Hernan Giardini, who follows biodiversity statistics for Greenpeace.
In 2007, Argentina exported 300,000 tonnes of bio-diesel. This year an increase of 400 per cent is planned.
European laws have been requiring ever-increasing amounts of bio- fuel in petrol mixtures. While the Argentinian government has been seeking to satisfy European demand, it lacks effective policies to protect the environment and the rights of rural people, according to Greenpeace.
The shifting use of agricultural products from food to fuel has raised the price of food, triggering worldwide protests over soaring food prices and hitting the poorest people the hardest.
