La Pampa strengthens its climate strategy with the 'Urban Lungs' program and adds new plantations

The provincial program ‘Urban Lungs for Climate Action’, is promoted by the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, which seeks to expand green infrastructure in La Pampa’s localities, improve environmental quality and strengthen resilience to climate change.

Image by Anna Shvets on Pexels

Unlike traditional urban tree actions, the so-called ‘urban lungs’ are true areas of forest designed to simulate the physiognomy of a natural ecosystem. They are characterized by incorporating different layers of vegetation (tree and shrub) and prioritizing the use of native species, which allows for the recreation of more complex and stable ecological dynamics.

These spaces provide substantial environmental benefits: they contribute to the mitigation of the effects of climate change, such as the reduction of urban temperatures and the regulation of excess water, while generating habitats for biodiversity and favoring ecological connectivity. In addition, they play a key role in carbon capture, contributing to the reduction of greenhouse gases.

In the spring of 2025, the program took its first steps with the planting of 3,000 specimens distributed in eight locations: Anguil, Quemú Quemú, Realicó, Alpachiri, Luan Toro, Telén, Victorica and Speluzzi. These actions not only involved the incorporation of vegetation, but also the generation of community spaces that strengthen the link between the population and its environment.

In 2026, the program advances in its autumn stage with a new goal: the planting of 4,000 additional specimens in six locations in the Province. So far, interventions have already been carried out in Winifreda, General Acha and Eduardo Castex, consolidating the continuity of the program and its territorial expansion.

Within the framework of International Mother Earth Day, a date promoted by the United Nations to reflect on the relationship between societies and ecosystems, a central activity was planned in the town of Toay on April 22. However, due to adverse weather conditions, the day was rescheduled for Thursday, April 30. On that occasion, progress will be made with the creation of nine urban lungs throughout the town. With the community, the lungs located on Avenida 13 de Caballería Este, between Avenida 9 de Julio and Urquiza Street, in Plaza Los Caldenes -in coordination with the Neighborhood Commission of the El Chaparral neighborhood and the families of the Child Development Center ‘Coco Salazar’-, and in the Lowo Che Este and Oeste neighborhoods, will be carried out. together with their respective neighborhood commissions. The call is open, inviting the entire community to participate in these collective actions of environmental care.

The Autumn schedule will also complete plantations of Green Lungs in Parera on April 24 and in Embajador Martini on April 28, thus reaching a wide territorial coverage in different regions of La Pampa.

The Secretary of Environment and Climate Change, Vanina Basso, highlighted that one of “the pillars of the program is community participation, understood not only as an operational component, but as a key strategy to guarantee the sustainability of actions over time.” The social appropriation of these green spaces, their care and maintenance, are essential to maximize environmental benefits and strengthen citizen commitment to climate action, explained the Provincial News Agency.

The initiative was approved in 2025 by a decree of the governor, Sergio Ziliotto, marking a milestone in provincial environmental planning by institutionalizing a public policy aimed at strategic afforestation in urban environments. Its implementation began that same year -the APN remembered-, with concrete results from the beginning, inviting different municipalities of the Province to join and be part of this strategy.

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