Jeffrey Roberg

Penny Seymoure

A chance encounter in a South American bus station sparked several years of study by Carthage professors Penny Seymoure and Jeffrey Roberg, culminating in a new book.

"Tourism in Northeastern Argentina," subtitled "The Intersection of Human and Indigenous Rights with the Environment," is a nine-chapter examination of the economic, environmental, and political impact of efforts to develop tourism in a previously remote area of Argentina, adjacent to the fabled Iguazú Falls, recently chosen one of the seven modern wonders of the world.

The professors returned to Argentina seven times, did research, and met with Argentine collaborators who wrote two chapters for the book. Ms. Seymoure, associate professor of psychology and neuroscience, wrote three chapters, mainly about the indigenous Mbya Guaraní people. Mr. Roberg, a professor of political science, wrote two chapters about the impact of the growing numbers of tourists and workers in urban areas. They wrote the introductory and concluding chapters together and have also spoken about the region to audiences in the United States, Canada and Argentina.

Impact of Tourism on Iguazú Falls

Prof. Seymoure recalled first visiting the falls, which have the largest volume of any waterfalls in the world, in 2003.

"We were thinking about putting together a student trip for Carthage," she said, and the professors organized J-Term study tours in 2005 and 2007. But Prof. Seymoure was haunted by an encounter with a 5-year-old indigenous girl who was selling carved wooden animals.

"I got very interested in why a 5-year-old girl was selling stuff in a bus station," she said. As the professors learned more, she added, they saw that the growth of tourism "is changing how they're living. They've been losing their land, so they're focusing more on tourism."

In less than a decade, tourism to the falls has nearly tripled, to nearly 1.2 million visitors per year. The population of the city of Puerto Iguazú has jumped from 32,000 to nearly 70,000, as people flocked to the area in search of work. But this has led to high unemployment, and infrastructure development in the city has not kept pace with growth. Only about half the city's residents are served by the municipal water system.

"Tourist hotels are built next to indigenous communities that have no sanitation, no running water, and minimal electricity," said Prof. Seymoure.

First book in English that tells of the plight of the Mbya

Prof. Roberg also described a second community that has taken a different approach from the mass tourism in Puerto Iguazú. Colonia Carlos Pellegrini has an official population of 881, which Prof. Roberg jokes, "includes every dog, every horse, and every cow." The number of annual visitors has quadrupled to about 20,000, but to date, this town has made a conscious effort to avoid being overwhelmed by tourism.

The Mbya people have resisted Western culture, maintaining their traditional religious beliefs and language. "Very few communities actually have title, so the provincial government, lumber companies, and even a national university have come in and said the land is theirs," Prof. Seymoure said. "They had occupied this area for a long time, but they didn't have title."

Prof. Seymoure said their book was the first published in English to tell the story of the plight of the Mbyas.

"They want to engage with tourists, but they don't want to be like us," she said. "I wanted the English-speaking world to know what the Mbya had gone through." Prof. Roberg said the broader message was that "you want tourists to come, because that puts money in your town, but it puts a strain on your town.” Economic development and environmental preservation "don't necessarily have to be in conflict," but proper planning is necessary.

"Tourism in Northeastern Argentina" was published by Lexington Books. Profs. Seymoure and Roberg have created a companion website for the book. The book is available on Amazon.

Profs. Penny Seymoure and Jeff Roberg are pictured with members of the Mbya community during early field work in Kaagui Porá (which means "beautiful forest" in Mbya Guaraní). Several of the Mbya leaders of this community were interviewed by Prof. Seymoure for her chapters in the book.