On April 4th and 5th, 2018, WHSRN partner Aves Argentinas convened a workshop on “Building a Foundation for Governance,” focused on the wetlands of the Multi-Use Provincial Reserve of Río Dulce, WHSRN site Laguna de Mar Chiquita, and the future Ansenuza National Park. The workshop’s 41 participants represented 15 institutions, both local and national, including municipal officials from the province of Córdoba, national legislators, NGOs, representatives from universities, environmental law enforcement, rural grassroots groups, birding clubs, and business and hotel owners. The workshop was facilitated by Diego Luna Quevedo, Conservation Specialist with the WHSRN Executive Office.
Photo from 1991, from the ceremony officially designating Laguna Mar Chiquita as a WHSRN site. In the photo are Juan Carlos Chebez, Pete Myers, Pablo Canevari and Dr. Enrique Bucher. Photo courtesy of Dr. Bucher.
Over the course of the workshop, participants learned about the principles of good governance for conservation and habitat management. Through debates, discussions, group breakout sessions, and collaborative exercises, they used tools to analyze, map, and plan for good governance actions. Reflecting on the results of the workshop, Hernán Casañas, Executive Director of Aves Argentinas, said that “the workshop allowed us to agree on and build the foundation for a governance process for conservation and local development in the provincial reserve and future national park.”
Workshop participants. Photo: Diego Luna Quevedo.
Participants collaborated to create a governance action plan for the area. Their discussions not only highlighted the need for a management plan for the Provincial Reserve, but the need to promptly define the boundaries of the future Ansenuza National Park, as well as for the National Reserve that will still allow some non-tourist activities, such as cattle ranching and fishing. They also proposed actions to coordinate conservation and governance processes in these areas.
The future Ansenuza National Park will include part of the WHSRN site Laguna Mar Chiquita, designated in 1989 as a WHSRN Site of Hemispheric Importance. The site is also a BirdLife International Important Bird Area (IBA) and a Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention. Currently, the site is also designated as a Multi-Use Provincial Reserve. With an area that can reach 600,000 hectares, Laguna Mar Chiquita (“Little Ocean Lake”) is the largest lake in Argentina, the biggest saline lake in South America, and the 5th biggest saline lake in the world. Its stunning landscape and rich biodiversity make it a major tourist attraction, and it is one of the priority areas in the Federal Strategic Plan for Sustainable Tourism of 2020. The category of National Park and Reserve will assure the protection of the natural and cultural values of this site, and serve as a new focal point for sustainable development, both locally and across the province.
Adrián Walker, Mayor of Miramar, Diego Luna Quevedo of WHSRN, Congresswoman Adriana Nazario, and the Executive Director of Aves Argentinas, Hernan Casañas. Photo: Diego Luna Quevedo.
The area supports 66% of all shorebird species recorded in Argentina. It has become one of the most important sites in South America for the conservation of migratory birds in general, as up to a half-million individuals congregate at the lake every year. This wetland also serves as habitat for several threatened species. The 380 species that have been recorded at the site represent almost 36% of the avifauna in all of Argentina, and 85% of the 447 bird species in the province of Córdoba. Laguna Mar Chiquita is also an incredibly important site for flamingos, supporting three of the six flamingo species in the world.
For more information, please contact Malena Srur, of the Programa Tierras de Aves Argentinas, at srur@avesargentinas.org.ar
