Enrique H. Bucher, Ph.D.

Research

Project Details

The Sustainable Development of the South American Chaco Region

Bucher focused on three major initiatives during his fellowship: (1) a detailed research effort and analysis of the present situation and opportunities for sustainable development of the South American Chaco region; (2) the development of an alternative production system for the region based on a multi-species ranching system that is both ecologically and economically feasible; and (3) a large-scale outreach effort designed to attract attention to the Chaco conservation and social problems and to dissemination information on the alternative production system developed by his group.

His efforts included creating an Ecological Field Station and a wildlife observation/radio tracking tower in the Salta province of Argentina, conducting regional biodiversity surveys, and coordinating international workshops, training sessions, and field courses for collaborating stakeholders from Argentina, Bolivia, and Paraguay. Bucher collaborated with a number of partner organizations in these efforts including Fundacion para el Desarrollo del Chaco, Centro de Zoologia Aplicada of the University of Cordoba, Fundacion Miguel Lillo, Colorado State University, and Yale University.

Biography

Enrique Bucher has been working for decades on research, development and implementation of a multiple-species management system for the Gran Chaco semi-arid savannahs of South America. His efforts have focused on a wide range of ecosystem function and management issues, including multi-use patterns, Indigenous rights and capacity-building, pest management and conservation of parrot species. Bucher has been active also active as an international consultant in the evaluation of environmental impacts of the proposed Paraguay-Parana Hidrovia initiative, a continental-scale waterway project that may affect the Brazilian Pantanal and other important wetlands.

In 1993 Enrique Bucher started a Post Graduate Program in Wildlife Management and Conservation at the University of Cordoba, Argentina. The Program, which has been rated at the highest level by the Accrediting Council on Postgraduate Education of Argentina , attracts candidates from Argentina and many other South American countries.

Since 2001 Bucher is devoted to the implementation of a multidisciplinary, multi institutional program (PROMAR) for the conservation and long-term sustainable development of the Mar Chiquita Reserve and Ramsar Convention site. Mar Chiquita, located in the Chaco ecoregion of Argentina, is one of the largest salt lakes of the world. The program goals include development of basic and applied research and environmental education programs, as well as outreach initiatives for the local community by establishing and promoting links and networks between environmental institutions and regional municipalities. A field Research Station has already created in the area, where several research, education, consulting, and social programs are been implemented

CV

EDUCATION

Ph.D., University of Crdoba
1968: Ecology, Argentina

Licenciado en Biologa, University of Crdoba
1964: Biology, Argentina

KEY LEADERSHIP POSITIONS

Argentine Science Secretariat Natural Resources Program
Advisory Board

ICBP Steppe and grassland Bird Group
past Chairman

Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network
past Board Member

KEY AWARDS & HONORS

Knox Foundation Prize
1993

Marine Fellow
1992: Pew Fellows Program in Conservation and the Environment

Corresponding Fellow
1990: American Ornithologists' Union

Corresponding Fellow
1989: British Ornithological Union

Fellow
1983: Argentinean National Academy of Sciences

SELECT PUBLICATIONS

• Bucher, E.H. 1995. Management for sustainable biodiversity. In: Global Biodiversity Assessment (V.H. Heywood and R.T. Watson eds.). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, p. 320
• Bucher, E.H. and P.C. Huszar. 1995. Critical environmental costs of the Paraguay-Paraná waterway project in South America. Ecological Economics 15:37324
• Bucher, E.H. 1994. Institutionalization of ecological knowledge in Argentina. Ecology International 21:65-74
• Bucher, E.H. 1994. La hora de la interdisciplina en conservación. Boletín Panamericano 9(2): 37258
• Jackson, J.E., E.H. Bucher and J.M. Chani. 1994. Sustainable wildlife use in Argentina. Selected case studies. Selected case studies. In: Proceedings: First Meeting of the IUCN/SSC Specialist Group on Sustainable Use of Wild Species. Buenos Aries, Argentina, p. 12-14 Jan-94
• Bucher, E.H., A. Bonetto, P.P. Boyle, P. Canevari, G. Castro, P. Huszar and T. Stone. 1993. Hidrovia: an Initial Environmental Examination of the Paraguay-Paraná Waterway. Wetlands for the Americas, Manomet, MA, p. 72