Matias Mastrangelo

Matías is a scientist and activist who works daily to ensure that future generations can enjoy and draw sustenance from nature, just as he has. He found in scientific research a means to protect and restore the natural world. Since childhood, his primary personal mission has been to defend and maintain a connection with nature. He originally planned to train as a park ranger, but when that program did not open up, he decided to study biology instead. He was the first in his family to graduate from university. He won a scholarship to pursue a PhD in New Zealand, where he chose to study how agricultural expansion affects forests and biodiversity in the Impenetrable Chaqueño region. Upon returning to Argentina, he joined CONICET’s research program to continue working on this issue. For the past fifteen years, he has collaborated with social organizations and interdisciplinary teams to protect nature and the inhabitants of the Impenetrable Chaqueño.

This project aims to protect nearly half a million hectares of native forests in the Impenetrable Chaqueño region by identifying and publicly exposing the actors—companies, landowners, and officials—who engage in illegal deforestation and fail to meet their restoration obligations. The strategy combines the analysis of large datasets obtained through public information requests with fieldwork (including interviews and workshops) and a mass communication campaign. The outcome will be a verified record of the beneficiaries and parties responsible for illegal deforestation in the Impenetrable Chaqueño—accessible to civil society and environmental organizations—enabling them to demand compliance with native forest protection laws through public pressure and legal action, and to reverse policy decisions currently advancing due to misinformation. The project is part of a research-for-direct-action program conducted by an interdisciplinary team of scientists, journalists, and lawyers.