An environmental lawyer has told UN News how children and teenagers from some of the most vulnerable neighbourhoods of Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, have been moved to tears after encountering nature for the first time.

Ana Di Pangracio works for the civil society organization Fundación Ambiente y Recursos Naturales or FARN which is involved in projects to restore degraded land in Argentina.

She and her team works in the Matanza Riachuelo basin which is a polluted area on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, which is home to around 4.5 million people, many of whom are living in socio-environmental vulnerable situations or other difficult circumstances.

Restoration activities include planting native flora and removing non-native invasive species across some 4.5 hectares, as well as building viewpoints and interpretative trails and cleaning up illegal garbage disposal.

Part of our work is bringing people, especially young people, to experience this restored natural wetland.

Many live close by in very urban, built-up areas and may come from challenging or violent environments but have never seen this land or had not even known of its existence.

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"Some are moved to tears when they experience nature for the first time in their lives."

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"There is a lot of land loss in Argentina, including areas which have become degraded by drought. In 2020, we experienced a three-year-long drought, the worst in over 60 years. This had serious social and environmental impacts."