In December of 2005, Greengrants celebrated the fruition of several years of planning with the first meeting of the new Southern Cone Advisory Board. We have long recognized the value of expanding our grantmaking program into Chile, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, and in 2005 we received a specially-designated grant to support the formation of this board.
We are pleased to welcome three new advisors, Enrique Bostelman from Chile, Jorge Daneri from Northern Argentina and Jose “Lobo” Orensanz from Southern Argentina into our network. Representatives from our Brazil and Andes boards also attended the meeting to welcome the new advisors, to advise them as they develop their grantmaking strategy and to discuss the pressing issues in the region. All the advisors present made a commitment to regional integration and cooperation in their grantmaking, particularly as it relates to the most recent, and largest, threat in the region: the South American Regional Infrastructure Initiative (IIRSA), a mega-development program of 390 infrastructure projects that threaten the environmental and cultural health and diversity of the entire continent.