The Reserve, Conservation
on Privately Owned Farms

Iberá Provincial Reserve covers around 750,000 hectares and, unlike the Provincial Park, is set on privately owned land. Here, the production of nature coexists with traditional productive activities which must be carried out in ways which avoid or minimize the environmental impacts they would normally produce. In this context, CLT is working on several conservation initiatives on the private lands described below.

CLT Private Reserves

CLT acquired several businesses and ranches that were offered for sale during 1997 and 2002 within the Iberá Provincial Reserve. It currently owns and manages 150,000 hectares.

These lands are managed for the sole purpose of the production of nature which enables low-impact ecotourism activities. In order to achieve this, CLT carries out intensive landscape and native species restoration tasks.

Traditional productive activities have been suspended in most of these reserves, while only low animal load livestock activities remain in some of them. The burning of grasslands with cattle-grazing purposes has been replaced by burning intended for ecosystem management. Hundreds of kilometers of fences, which had an impact on the visual quality of the landscape and on the wildlife, have been removed. Strict surveillance is undertaken to prevent illegal poaching and logging, and invasive species are controlled and, when possible, eradicated. It is in these private reserves where the most ambitious process in Latin America of restoring extinct large birds and mammals has begun.

Conservation in private reserves of CLT is undertaken in perpetuity in view of the fact that these lands will be donated to the State to become natural parks located on public lands.

Anteaters reintroduced in San Alonso Reserve

The staff responsible for the conservation and management of CLT private reserves are distributed on various operating bases located in Rincon del Socorro, San Alonso, San Nicolas, Cambyretá, Guayaiví and Carambola. There are also facilities for non-permanent use on the Plumero reserve.

More information on CLT reserves (in Spanish):

Other Privately Owned Reserves

There are other conservation initiatives that, with the guidance of various NGOs, are carried out by companies or individuals on privately owned lands in the Iberá Provincial Reserve. The contribution of these initiatives to preserve the Iberá is essential and consist of farms dedicated to the production of nature either fully or in combination with traditional productive activities conducted in an environmentally friendly manner. However, many of these reserves are set up for the short term and can be discontinued by decision of the owner or the sale of the farm.

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Cattle Farming in Natural Grasslands

Cattle farming is a traditional activity in the Iberá. If executed with adequate animal loads, it can serve as an ally for conservation and promote the continuity of this region's own cultural practices. Most private farms with livestock production in Iberá are found on elevated lands with grasslands not often found in public flooded lands destined for conservation, however, the protection of these is essential to the survival of many species among which are threatened birds such as saffron-cowled blackbird, strange-tailed tyrant or the double collared seed-eater. Unlike other productive activities in Iberá where the natural environments are replaced (such as livestock on sown pastures, rice fields and pine and eucalyptus plantations) cattle farming on natural pastures enables the survival of many species of native flora and fauna. Producers of meat in Iberá should look into interesting initiatives that certify meat produced under friendly grassland conservation conditions, enabling access into demanding and environmentally responsible markets.

National and Provincial Law on the Protection
of Native Forests

Argentina's native forests are protected by specific land use planning laws. Forests with a "red" or "yellow" status categorization can not be replaced by any other land uses, only forests categorized “green” could be cleared with an authorization obtained after an environmental impact assessment. Iberá native forests’ (hygrophilous forests, “espinal”, palm groves) are one of its most distinctive and diverse environments. Unfortunately, only a small proportion of these forests is inventoried and some of them have been classified “green” status meaning they will likely be cut down. CLT is working to complete the mapping of native forests of Iberá and to promote their inclusion in the red or yellow category in order to increase their level of protection.