The women replanting Argentina’s future

05/11/2025

When Iracema Da Luz Ferreyra walks through the shaded plots of Colonia Alegría, she sees more than trees. She sees a future for her chacra— a small family farm passed down through generations. “In ten years, I imagine my chacra [farm] with many more plants, many more trees. I may not get to see all that, but I hope my children and grandchildren can say, 'This was planted by my mom or my grandmother.'”

Deep within Argentina’s northeastern Misiones province, the village of Colonia Alegría lies in one of the country’s richest forest regions. Argentinian native forests, stretching across 46.5 million hectares, provide water, food and medicine for rural communities. But years of intensive agriculture, particularly tobacco and yerba mate cultivation, have pushed the balance of life and land to its limits.

So together, the women set their sights on cultivating native tree species, valued for their use as food, medicine as well as essential habitat for wildlife and pollinators. Teaming up with the community organisation, Asociación Civil Minka, the women began planting native tree saplings with support from the Government of Argentina and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) under the Green Climate Fund (GCF)-financed Argentina REDD+  project. This initiative is part of a broader investment of more than USD 80 million awarded to Argentina by the GCF in 2020, in recognition of the country’s success in reducing deforestation, forest degradation and greenhouse gas emissions during that time.

Andrea Pereyra, who like Iracema is a member of the Women Entrepreneurs of Colonia Alegría, grew up in the region, but left her home in search of job opportunities. After four years aways, she returned to Colonia Alegría at the age of 22.

She grew up seeing trees cleared for tobacco and yerba mate cultivation, but now in her twenties, she has realized how important the forest is.

“The forest is life. We get water, air and everything from it,” she says. “We don’t want to keep cutting down forests to survive. We want to plant for nature and create other ways to support our families.”

With her husband, she now works in a reserve planting native trees on degraded land. She also raises chickens and pigs, without clearing the forest for pens. The REDD+ funding allowed her community to implement these sustainable practices while still earning a living, showing that forest protection and livelihoods can grow together.

Seeds for the future

Tree seedlings are central to the women’s approach. With support from FAO and Asociación Civil Minka, they are learning to cultivate native species—some destined for timber, others chosen for food, medicine or pollinator habitats. A new community centre will house a nursery and offer a space for training, processing and collective marketing.

The women participate in regular training sessions on biodiversity, seed collection and sustainable farming. “We want to be the seed companies of the area,” says Iracema. “Produce our own seeds and have an income in harmony with the environment.”

The community also plans to set up an artisanal kitchen to learn food processing and packaging, turning the centre into a local market hub. “If we do it alone, it’s too hard,” says Iracema. “But as a group, we help each other, sell together and build something lasting.”

Apiculture has taken root as well. The women manage beehives to produce honey, support household incomes and improve pollination in reforested areas. These efforts fall under the Native Forest Producers Programme, which supports forest-based enterprises while recognizing women’s roles in forest governance and community life. Led by FAO and the National Directorate of Forests and financed by the GCF, this programme ensures that the women are not only restoring forests but also turning sustainable management into a long-term, verifiable climate solution.

Andrea adds, “We want our kids and grandkids to know what these plants are. To remember that we stopped cutting and started planting. That the forest is still here because of us.”

“This isn’t about imposing ideas,” says Ana María Roldán, president of Asociación Civil Minka. “It’s about working together to find what works best for our community.” A vital partner in the process, Roldán has helped integrate technical training with local knowledge, making sure solutions grow from within the community and that forest management becomes a shared responsibility.

The support has also created space for rural women to express themselves, says Iracema: “Sometimes we are very shy and don’t speak. But with the workshops and Asociación Civil Minka’s help, we are becoming stronger.”

With the REDD+ Results-Based Payments from the GCF, Colonia Alegría is now part of a network of communities across Argentina reducing deforestation and restoring native forests. More than 31 000 people will benefit and over 4.5 million hectares of forest will be under sustainable management. Every tree they plant contributes to measurable reductions in carbon emissions, showing that local actions can have a real impact on global climate goals. Today, Colonia Alegría is one of several communities advancing sustainable futures with trees at the centre.

“This is just the beginning,” says Serena Fortuna, FAO Senior Forestry Officer. “Similar activities are rolling out across Argentina and anchoring broader forest management strategies.”

In Misiones, the trees are young, but their roots run deep, into the land and into a new generation of women who are helping forests endure and communities grow.