¿Quién protege las areas protegidas? Conservación, producción, estado y sociedad en la implementacion del sistema nacional de areas protegidas en Uruguay

This research analyzes the implementation of an environmental public policy -the creation of a National System of Protected Areas in Uruguay - from its social implications and the meanings that different actors involved in the process give to notions such as nature, conservation or development. From multi-sited ethnography, the research establishes the manner in which the state intervenes in the territoryand how it relates to the different social actors.

This approach uses as a case study the implementation of the National Park "Esteros de Farrapos e Islas del Río Uruguay", an enclave of conservation in an area with a rich history of productive uses and currently surrounded by the advance of agribusiness (soybean crops and forest plantations). This research analyzes the impacts of recent agricultural intensification and environmental policies that have been implemented in the territory from the viewpoint of social inequalities and environmental justice.