CAF reaffirms its commitment to the protection and conservation of six protected areas in Argentina

Each of the six Regional Research Centers will be set up in a new “Conservation Beacon” and will aim to promote studies and applied scientific research in order to improve biological and cultural resource management in protected natural areas dependent on APN.

The initiative seeks to bring about the material conditions needed to overcome the scarce interaction and communication between academic research and development centers and the information needs of Protected Area (PA) administrations.

The “Conservation Beacons” will be inter- and trans-disciplinary work sites in which a research and information strategy is developed and channeled towards local capacities, possibilities and needs, based on the research priorities determined by the PAs themselves. Scientific-technical institution experiences will be enhanced, and the overlap and crossover of the various types of knowledge developed in each territory will be promoted, thereby empowering local socio-economic development.

The Regional Centers will have the necessary equipment and supplies to address the specific socio-environmental problems in each ecoregion. PA technicians and agents together with researchers from different disciplines and institutions (CONICET, INTA, National Universities, etc.) will work there to develop concrete solutions for each of the problems identified, following a set schedule and with dedicated funding. Furthermore, it is important to bear in mind that APN has the technical, logistical and operational capacity to implement short, medium and long-term studies in the field.

The intention is to translate these actions into economic improvements in regional economies by increasing the influx of tourists, improving the satisfaction rates of visitors to the PAs involved, and developing various productive initiatives—all the while fully guaranteeing their sustainability levels through the inter- and trans-disciplinary work carried out and sustained at the Regional Centers.

In doing so, CAF reaffirms its commitment to improve the quality of life for all Latin Americans through actions that promote sustainable development and integration in the region. With the incentive to become the Green Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean, CAF backs the efforts made by countries to honor their environmental and climate commitments and supports initiatives that favor nature-based climate solutions and a sustainable use of natural capital, always within a framework of social inclusion and gender equality.

Regional centers

The regional centers will be interdisciplinary work spaces that will develop research and information strategies aimed at promoting local capacities based on research priorities determined by the Protected Areas. They will enhance the experience and expertise of scientific-technical institutions and promote the interchange of knowledge developed in the different territories.

The protection, management and governance capacities of the Protected Areas and APNs involved—as well as those of the academic and research centers associated with the proposal in each region—will be strengthened, thereby providing a better service to tourists who visit the national parks.

Pre-Delta National Park: located in Entre Ríos, this park is comprised of susceptive territories, i.e., the ecoregions of the Delta and of the islands of Paraná, Pampa and Espinal. This center will function as a research beacon for the entire Paraná Delta wetlands, bringing together the work of all three national parks.

Tierra del Fuego National Park: embraces the Patagonian forests which reach the sea coast. Two standouts of this area include the Bahía Lapataia, the only Argentine fjord in the Beagle Channel, and Bahía Ensenada Zaratiegui.

Callegua National Park: located in the southeast of Jujuy Province and belonging to the Yungas Jungle ecoregion. This center will coordinate research activities throughout the NW of Argentina.

El Impenetrable National Park: located in the north of the Chaco province, this park is the natural habitat of flagship species from the area, such as the anteater, the tapir, the peccary, the giant armadillo and the jaguar, as well as a huge variety of birds. This is a highly important area for conservation, allowing for the research and protection of Chaco Forest’s largest natural remnant.

Nahuel Huapi National Park: the first National Park in the country, dating back to 1903. This refuge of nature and culture shelters a representative sample of the Andean-Patagonian ecosystems: forests, steppes and high mountains, as well as water basins and cultural heritage. It will coordinate the research activities of all the Protected Areas in the Northern Patagonia region.

National Glacier Park: located in the southwest of the Santa Cruz province, this was created to preserve an extensive area of continental ice and glaciers in the southern Andean-Patagonian forest, as well as samples of the Patagonian steppe. It will function as a beacon for the entire Southern Patagonia region, coordinating and bringing together the research activities of the Protected Areas in this zone.