La acción de los expertos en contexto: La aplicación de la política de protección de bosques nativos en cuatro provincias argentinas.

In the light of the technical complexity required for the design of environmental policies, we ask: What are the factors that influence the role of experts and the use of their knowledge in the design of an environmental policy? How is the political and economic context linked to the role of experts? We distinguish between two types of experts (proactive and advisory) and depart from the working hypothesis that experts will be more proactive in contexts of greater economic-environmental conflict over land uses and greater political plurality. To answer our questions, we compare the application of the National Law on Native Forests in the Argentine provinces of Formosa, Mendoza, Santa Cruz and Tierra del Fuego between 2008 and 2012. Our findings show that experts play a proactive role in contexts of greater economic-environmental conflict but not necessarily in contexts of greater political plurality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]