The Andes and the pampas in South America has had different ''destinies'' in the recent decades.
While the Andes have been largely preserved, the pampas has been mostly ruined in its original state.
The Andes region had seen economic rise, and the economic rise is largely from tourism. The tourism has developed mainly because they are well preserved, the nature is excellent condition, and there's lot of interesting sites on them that are very attractive. The globalization process helped a lot for the promotion of the tourism and the ever growing number of tourist visiting the region, as well as the preservation of the environment and the strict rules and charges if someone damages it.
The pampas region, from environmental point of view, has been largely destroyed. The once vast spaces of thick grasslands are mostly non-existent nowadays. On the other hand, the region has been transformed into agricultural land, so it has experienced economic boom. The economic growth has also largely been helped with the globalization, as big portion of the products from this very fertile regions are exported.