A new provincial park of more than 2,600 hectares is being built on three islands of the Uruguay River, opposite the Entre Ríos town of Colonia Elía, with the objective of protecting the species of this ecosystem, essential for the fight against climate change, and promoting ecotourism projects that help the development of the area, They reported this Wednesday from the NGO Banco de Bosques when World Wetlands Day was celebrated this Thursday.
“We have been asking for a law that protects our wetlands and an inventory that allows us to know them better for more than 10 years. If we take care of our wetlands we will be better prepared to face the extreme events that global climate change poses for us”
The “Green Islands and Channels of the Uruguay River” project began in 2021 after the American philanthropist Gilbert Butler bought the Dolores, San Género and Campichuelo islands in order to donate them to the government of Entre Ríos to consolidate a corridor of protected areas that contributes to the conservation of their species and habitats, and to develop tourist activities, educational and scientific.
“Creating a protected wetland area is vital because they have a very important water regulation function, they are home to many species thanks to their biological diversity, and they have enormous recreational value. This is for the whole community to enjoy,” Emiliano Ezcurra, director of Banco de Bosques, told Télam when leading a tour of the archipelago, and specified that adding some of the fiscal islands of the province could exceed 5,000 protected hectares.
It is the fourth project financed by Butler in Argentina through its Butler Conservation Foundation, which landed in the country due to its friendship with the late philanthropist Douglas Tompkins, known for donating almost 150,000 hectares for the Iberá National Park in Corrientes, where it is now located. is carrying out the reintroduction of the jaguar.
To access these islands of the Uruguay Riverjust three hours from the Capital, You must reach the small town of Colonia Elía, which is located between Concepción del Uruguay and Gualeguaychú.
From there, an 8-kilometer gravel road is taken, passing through old abandoned boulder quarries, until reaching Puerto Campichuelo, where the water of the Uruguay River awaits calm and crystal clear due to the few rains that afflict the area.
Over there, the “Green Islands and Channels of the Uruguay River” project set up its base of operations. There is a storage of 80 kayaks donated by Butler for a free program that has already been visited by 2,150 children from schools in localities in the area and who plan to extend it to students from other provinces.
“With the kayaks we encourage the boys to come, we take them for a walk and we show them the rivers and canals that we have. Incredibly, even boys from the area don’t have much contact with the river and are fascinated when we explain about the animals and native and exotic plants. The main objective is conservation, and it is very valuable that they take that information with them,” said Andrés von Gerstenberg, in charge of project logistics for the Wildlife Conservation Society.
Since 2006, all the islands of Ibicuy, Gualeguaychú and Concepción del Uruguay became a multi-use nature reserve, a category that does not provide greater protection against the threats suffered by this ecosystem such as the contributions of effluents and domestic and agricultural waste, the invasion of exotic plant and animal species, the extraction of wood, overfishing, the hunting of native species, the introduction of livestock or unregulated public or private use.
From the donation, the Dolores, San Genaro and Campichuelo islands, which total 2695 hectares, have to be recategorized to Provincial ParkTherefore, the permitted human activities will be more restrictive.
Besides these islands, Others totaling 514 hectares have been ceded to the government of Uruguay to carry out the same initiative and thus increase protection on both banks of the river in order to protect these wetlands between both countriessince they are home to more than 400 species of birds, some of them globally threatened such as the yellow thrush, the yellow cardinal, the capuchins and the collared capuchin.
Too there are mammals such as the maned maned, the capybara or the maned maned, and the reintroduction of the marsh deer is plannedwhich is extinct in the place.
So far, a refuge has been built on each island, one of them called “Aguará popé” thanks to a vote carried out by boys from a local primary school, while the assembly of trails, signs and viewpoints continues.
“This project is fantastic, it is important that we work with the children because we have to teach what our natural wealth is, that we have it one step away and we do not know it. It is a heritage of all and we must take care of it,” Raúl Almeida told Télam, ecotourism provider in Gualeguaychú, adding that “developing nature tourism in the area makes it possible to give work to young people from nearby towns.”
In Argentina, wetlands occupy 21.5% of the territory and the country committed itself along with 196 other states in the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15), at the end of last year, to restore at least 350 million hectares of wetlands and 300,000 kilometers of rivers by the year 2030 in the world.
“We have been asking for a law that protects our wetlands and an inventory that allows us to know them better for more than 10 years. If we take care of our wetlands we will be better prepared to face the extreme events that global climate change poses for us,” they said from the Wetlands Foundation. .
