Sergio Rojas recalls when he was a kid who would see bulldozers rolling into the Gran Chaco area of Argentina, razing the forest to the ground and landing the cut trees on the ground. Animals will scatter and run away, and men, deer, snakes and lizards dart on the ground to find a new home.
The forest of Gran Chaco is also home to Rojas. He and his family are members of the indigenous QOM community in Argentina, living a nomadic lifestyle in the forest, relying on woodlands and rivers to shelter and food, relocating every 20 days to regenerate and restore the land.
Gran Chaco is a group of arid woodlands spread across the northernmost part of Argentina, to Brazil, Paraguay and Bolivia. It is also the center of flooded deforestation, driven primarily by cattle, logging and agriculture, especially the soybean industry.
“Chacco is in danger of extinction. We witnessed the ecogenic agent,” Rojas said. “This has to stop immediately because otherwise, nothing remains. No one is doing anything, not the state and the judicial system; only the indigenous communities. This directly affects our daily reality and the need to survive.”
Spanish bank Santander, the 14th Street in the world, is a familiar presence on the streets of the UK, indirectly funding deforestation in Gran Chaco, an ecosystem that is an ecosystem that spreads throughout Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay, according to a new report released today by the International Environmental and Human Rights Organization Global Witnesses.
Santander has invested in Argentina's agro-community group Cresud is also operating in the region through Brazilian company Brasilagro, which owns a 34.2% stake.
Global witness said: “Company [Cresud] More than 170,000 hectares of forest have been deforested [420,000 acres] South America has been more than three times that of Madrid since the beginning of this century. ”
The region is called “Impossible Chaco” by local Argentines, and its indigenous population is distributed in four countries. It is also one of the largest ecosystems in South America and one of the last crucial climate forests in the region, with over 3,400 plant species and nearly 900 birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians.
Looking at its policies, Santander doesn't seem to be a very cautious organization
Ola Janus, Banktrack
The report asserted that Santander “co-appropriated” with “multiple Argentine and international banks” and has raised a total of US$1.3 billion (£980 million) since 2011.
“The total $1.3 billion is underwritten by Santander with several Argentina and international banks, and Santander often serves as the chief underwriter,” the report said. “The banking group co-led by Santander has helped three-quarters of the company's issuance of bonds since 2011, and the bank has directly provided loans to Cresso for more than $50 million.”
Despite the bank's proposed deforestation restrictions in 2018, Santander's financing is still underway and promises net zero emissions in its portfolio through 2050-2050.
According to Global Witness, “Santander is the chief or principal underwriter of 35 of the 47 bonds issued by the company since 2002, and the bank account co-led more than 90% of the total bond value of the company's total issuance.”
According to global witnesses, some of the funds supported by Santander will be used to purchase and destruction of land in the Chaco area through the “real estate model”.
Santander is one of the five largest banks in the EU and is also the group's leading lender “forest risk” company. In 2024, it provided more than $600 million (£452 million) in financing to companies related to beef, palm oil, soybeans and other agricultural supply chains, which are important drivers of deforestation.
Related: “Forests rise in flames – so is the rule of law”: The atmosphere of fear in Argentina
“Business models are looking for areas to be developed, buying them cheaply, cleaning them up, and selling them. Chaco is considered unproductive and to be transformed into productive land, not important ecosystems, not huge indigenous peoples, and can also defend it.”
Global witnesses asked if Santander’s Creed funds violated the bank’s policies. In response, Santander said, “Practice is not about commenting on information related to a client or a specific transaction.”
A Santander spokesman also described the allegations in the report as “containing inaccurate and potential information about our policies inaccurate” but provided no concrete evidence to support the statement.
Janus, head of banking and natural movement at BankTrack, a financial monitoring activity organization, said: “By its policy, Santander does not seem to be a very cautious organization. There is a lot of room for improvement in these policies.
“To really stop these issues, we need to make a fundamental shift in how the financial sector works because it is still a new colony.”
Neither Santander nor Cresud responded to the Guardian's request for comment.
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In recent decades, Gran Chaco has become an agricultural hub and a driving force for regional economies. According to the World Economic Forum, soybean cultivation has expanded, with production areas in Argentina increasing by 30% between 2001 and 2022, while Paraguay grew 15 times from 2012 to 2022.
Livestock production has also increased, especially in Paraguay, where 67.4% of beef exports are from Granchaco. In Argentina, the region is home to 33% of the country's cattle.
The cleanup of Chaco forests associated with such agricultural expansion makes the area more vulnerable to the impact of climate crisis, which worsens the effects of droughts, floods, heat waves and forest fires. Argentina suffered $26.7 billion in export losses due to the 2022 drought.
According to global witnesses, most of the deforested land (more than 100,000 hectares (250,000 acres) are in Argentina, where deforestation has long been operated by companies such as Formosa, Santiago del Estero, Saltera, Salta, Salta and Cresud.
Over the past 25 years, Argentina Greenpeace has calculated that the country has about 8 million hectares of indigenous forest land, with nearly 80% of deforestation occurring in Gran Chaco, Argentina.
The expansion of the logging industry means not only plundering resources, but also our language
Indigenous Vicci leader
“In the past few decades, Gran Chaco is probably one of the most respected regions on the planet,” said Hernán Giardini, coordinator of the Greenpeace Argentina Forest Movement.
He noted that in addition to the loss of biodiversity, local communities were affected. “Indigenous people are usually the most affected. They may be reduced to limited space where their hunting, collecting and fishing methods become unfeasible.”
The Argentian Chaco community has repeatedly complained about the feeling needed for agricultural businesses to get the consultation they need.
Related: “Graveyards of trees”: As lumberjacks plunder Gran Chaco in South America
International law recognizes indigenous peoples and local communities that reject projects that affect their lifestyles. Any such project requires their free, prior and informed consent to proceed.
“The expansion of the logging industry means not only plundering resources, but also our language. They are trying to erase us from the map,” said the Wichi leader in Holmosa on anonymously.
The leader added: “We have an obligation to descend from our grandparents and always take care of and defend our land and convey its importance. We are ready and committed to defending our land, language and customs.”
Hammans said unchecked deforestation and financing of companies associated with it was “lack of international review, outdated laws, which are subject to poorly enforced laws – if any, lack of resources for government departments that make checks and governments that fully support the agricultural industry.
At the current deforestation rate, the Granchaco region of Paraguay may completely disappear by 2080, with global witness calculations.
Giardini and Hammans stressed that Cresud and similar companies operate within the scope of legitimacy and blamed weak and outdated policies to promote the climate that made this practice thrive.
“Environmental regulations on what these companies can do should be thoroughly revised to determine if any future licenses are feasible,” Hammans said. “The system is fundamentally broken and to see real changes, we need real regulations.”
