A Piece of a Puzzle: Construction of the Landscape as a Legal Object

Abstract

Legal regulation of the landscape is relatively new. Conceived on the basis of the relationship between man and nature, the law has assimilated, at certain times, a static object that is essentially natural. In another period, it apprehended its dynamics by regulating it as a hybrid object. The landscape is made up of a set of goods and values that transcend what is purely cultural or natural, and are combined in the confluence of both elements. This hybridity leads to difficulties, both at the point prior to its regulation; that is, in the legal notion of the landscape, and at the moment of its governance. In this paper, the authors seek to unravel the construction of the landscape as a particular object of regulation in the field of Argentine law. With that in mind, they offer a brief historiography of the regulation of landscape in an effort to delve into the two most relevant international standards on the subject (i.e., the UNESCO Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage and the European Landscape Convention adopted by the Council of Europe). In analyzing the construction of this particular object and the legal provisions for its governance, the authors conclude with several thoughts on the process of constructing this piece of the legal puzzle.