Iberá is one of the planet’s great freshwater wetlands, covering more than 1.3 million hectares (3.2 million acres) of grasslands and marsh in northeastern Argentina's Corrientes Province. The landscape is a mix of swamps, bogs and rivers and is the second-largest wetland in the world. Iberá also supports unique wildlife, including more than 360 species of birds and large mammals like the jaguar.
On November 8, 2015, Ollanta Humala, then president of Peru, signed a law into effect that established a new conservation area, the Sierra del Divisor National Park. Located in the western part of the country neighboring Brazil, the massive park spans more than 1.3 million hectares (3.2 million acres).
The Tambopata National Reserve in the Madre de Dios region of Peru is located between the fringes of the Amazon rainforest and the city of Puerto Maldonado. The land here had become degraded through both illegal mining and the single crop plantations of papaya that provided the community with much needed income but stripped the soil of nutrients. This type of practice led to deforestation, as farmers moved on in search of new plots of nutrient-rich land, often forested.
In Chile's Patagonia region, grasslands were severely degraded after years of uncontrolled sheep and cattle grazing. In 2004, however, Fundación Patagonica started its important conservation work in the region by purchasing a 69,000-hectare farm known as Estancia Valle Chacabuco, located in Chile's Aysén region. This area is a unique transitional ecosystem between the dry Argentinian grasslands to the east of the Andes and the temperate humid forests to the west. The area under conservation has continued to expand with the subsequent acquisition of adjacent lands.
Since 2015 the American Bird Conservancy (ABC) and its partners have reforested 20 hectares with native species in and around the Loma Quita Espuela Scientific Reserve with local farmers in the buffer zones of the nature reserves. ABC has supported the improved protection of the 9,247 ha Loma Quita Espuela Scientific Reserve.
Ecuador occupies 0.2% of the Earth’s terrestrial surface and has some of the highest rates of endemism in the world. It also contains the fourth highest number of bird species of any country in the world. Due to monoculture plantations (palm oil, bananas, cacao and teak wood), logging, extensive cattle grazing and a prolific shrimp industry, the entire country has undergone massive deforestation. This rapid extraction of resources has placed many native and migratory bird species at risk, and in some cases at the brink of extinction.
The Chihuahuan Desert of northern Mexico is a continentally important wintering area for grassland birds – the most rapidly declining group of birds in North America. More than 90% of migratory grassland bird species breeding in western North America spend at least half their life cycle concentrated in the limited grasslands of the Chihuahuan Desert region.
UNIQUE Forestry and Land Use is responsible for the technical management of a 13,600-hectare forestry project in Paraguay. The project, which began in 2002, was implemented in cooperation with PAYCO, a Paraguayan company that carries out sustainable agriculture, livestock and forest management. By combining natural forest restoration and the management of existing forests with planting new forests and silvopastoral systems, the company creates added value.
Since 2014, the American Bird Conservancy (ABC) has reforested 189 hectares, and 116 ha have been secured through conservation agreements with private landowners in the Santander Department of Colombia. An additional 1,899 ha of private nature reserves have been maintained for protection.
The northern highlands of Nicaragua have been found to be an important wintering area for more than 25 species of neotropical migratory birds. In particular, this area is important for the golden-winged warbler and has a density approximately twice as high as at any other site surveyed as part of the 7-country NFWF Golden-winged Warbler project. The golden-winged warbler (GWWA) is a migratory bird species that has experienced once of the most rapid population declines among all migratory birds in the Western Hemisphere, a loss of nearly 40% since 1960. Subscribe to Private