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Argentina: Urge Harvard to Be a Responsible Investor

The Iberá wetlands system in Argentina is one of the world’s largest freshwater bodies, but it is under threat. Vast monocrop pine and eucalyptus plantations have virtually eliminated biodiversity in more than half of the wetlands, devastating freshwater levels and dramatically affecting the livelihoods of the Guaraní Indigenous People who have lived in relationship with the lands for generations and depend on these ecosystems. Who's responsible? None other than Harvard University.

On November 27th, a group of organizations representing local farmers, Indigenous communities, and environmentalists gathered to protest in the Capital of Corrientes, Argentina, to demand an end to the land-grabbing by foreign investors in the province.

Across Argentina, Corrientes has the highest percentage of its land being sold to foreign investors, leaving communities unable to continue their traditional agricultural practices, animal grazing, and with diminishing levels of fresh water.

Local residents dress as zomies to protest the death of their culture and the Iberá wetlands they depend on.

In October, a protest broke out in the village of Chavarria, in Corrientes, Argentina, bordering the Iberá wetlands, one of the largest bodies of fresh water in the world and currently under threat by vast mono-cropped pine plantations  in which Harvard University invests. While investing millions into plantations in the Iberá wetlands of Argentina, Harvard University continues to ignore concerns voiced by community members about their right to access their traditio

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