<p><p>Livestock activity (or cattle ranching) in Patagonia, Argentina began at the end of the 19th century with the consolidation of the national territory and the subdivision of land, creating large ranches (in plains and mountain ranges). This affected fields physiognomy, with substantial modifications in the composition, structure, and dynamics of the herbaceous and woody vegetation. At the beginning of the 20th century, many of these lands were established as national Protected Areas in the Andes Mountain range, overlapping uses in conflict (basically &ldquo;conservation vs. production&rdquo;). Presently, the very right to exist of cattle ranching practices in Protected Areas is in debate, due to their negative impact on the ecosystems, where the Andean Patagonian Forest and Steppe predominate, as current practices are considered historical and are anchored in the 19th century extractivist model, which caused the destruction of large masses of forests and other environments in the past. Interestingly, for local populations, many of them related to native culture, this is an activity that in general, does not pursue an economic purpose <em>per se</em>, but rather a sense of belonging and identity, almost in the emotional purview. Nowadays, productive practices should be consistent with the present conservation objectives of the APN. Therefore, we will characterize livestock activity from the way APN considers it and from the perception of the populations themselves, analyzing encounters and distances, searching in the emotional anchorages the points associated with the conservation that APN seeks to consolidate, as strategies to reduce degrees of uncertainty.</p></p>
