Environmentalists from Rosario closed this Sunday the Encounter for the Isla de los Mastiles Reservewhose objective was “make visible, raise awareness and preserve” that natural reserve on the Paraná River, which belongs to the province of Santa Fe.
The meeting, which began this Saturday, was organized by the Los Mastiles Island Intersectionand a dozen representatives of environmental organizations and lovers of the Paraná River participated.
The demonstrators gathered this Saturday morning in the area of Rambla Catalunya, from where they set out sailing in kayaks, under a strong wind that, for security reasons, made the Nautical Sports Schools give up.
“On Saturday we crossed with delays due to the wind and sailed to the southern part of the island, where we made an awareness tour among the people, to tell them that the place is a nature reserve,” he told Télam. Rodolfo Martinezof the Multisector Wetlands.
After qualifying both days as “very positive”, he commented that dozens of kayakers, neighbors and environmentalists participated this Sunday.
“This was the first meeting of many that will come from people who love the river here on the islands,” he said.
Martínez said that both days were intended to “make visible and raise awareness about the island of Los Mastiles, but more than anything to preserve” that place.
“Preserve it as a nature reserve, because although there is an ordinance in Capitan Bermúdez and Granadero Baigorria, which legally protect it, then in practice it has to be materialized and that is what we are doing,” he said.
He pointed out that the southern part of Isla de los Mastiles -which has an area of 900 hectares-, “was crossed by the what else in 2020, today it is regenerating, but its interior lagoons are dry”.
“Today on a tour of native plant recognition around the island, upon reaching the La Carlota lagoon, we found an eel in the mud with its young, which we rescued and returned to the river,” he commented.
For its part, Frederick Bordingof the organization “Environmentalists from Baigorria” which is part of the Intersectorial Isla de los Mastiles, told Télam that this lagoon “which is generally full of irupés, due to the downstream of the river, is totally dry”.
After pointing out that “the drought in all the islands of the delta” of Paraná is incredible, Bording highlighted the convocation that the meeting had for the Isla de los Mastiles Reserve: “a lot of people participated, and in addition to environmentalists from the area, many attended self-summoned neighbors”.
