La Plata Basin Ecosystems

Located in the southeast of the South American continent, the basin covers a total area of over 1.2 million km² and is home to more than 110 million people, producing over 70% of the GDP of the countries it encompasses. The basin is subdivided into three ecosystems (Pampa, Pantanal, and Gran Chaco) and forms a water system with high biological diversity, featuring the largest wetland corridor in South America and being one of the most important basins in the world for the abundance, variety, and endemism of its fish fauna (CIC, 2016). A Strategic Action Plan is being implemented with resources from GEF, CAF, and other actors.

The Pantanal is the largest tropical wetland in the world, covering an area of over 170,500 km². It is home to 656 bird species, 159 mammal species, 325 fish species, 98 reptile species, and 53 amphibian species, and hosts one of the largest concentrations of caimans in the world; it has faced severe threats from fires. The Gran Chaco covers approximately 1 million km², representing the largest dry forest ecosystem in South America, with 3,400 plant species (400 of them endemic), 150 mammal species, nearly 500 bird species, 186 amphibian species, and 297 reptile species. The Pampa Ecoregion comprises a plain of 398,966 km² and is the most important grassland ecosystem in Argentina, with flora that includes about a thousand vascular plant species and is home to around 300 bird species. Much of the grasslands have been converted into crops, endangering the area's flora and fauna.