A virtual journey through the National Parks of Argentina (# 6): El Impenetrable.

hugo1954 (60)mutedin TravelFeed • 5 years ago

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The Impenetrable is a must-see for lovers of hiking and nature.

It is one of the little explored places in the country, but it is worth knowing. The new park, of 128 thousand hectares, now represents the largest reserve in northern Argentina.

It is very difficult to find a degree of biodiversity as pure as that seen in El Impenetrable National Park.

The national park is part of what Estancia La Fidelidad used to be and extends between the provinces of Chaco and Formosa, covering an area of 250,000 hectares, divided by the Bermejo river.

The origin of its name lies in the difficulty of entering the area. Nature is diverse.

Lush forests. Ancient trees and mammals of exuberant beauty form the recent El Impenetrable National Park, the largest in northern Argentina.

Under the premise of preserving the Chaco forest and the diverse species of flora and fauna that inhabit it, National Parks protects its 130,000 hectares from times prior to its creation, in 2017.

Why should we know this place?

The Impenetrable today constitutes one of the few, best preserved and largest green lungs in Latin America.

For many years, the site was used as a sports hunting ground. Domestic animals, indiscriminate logging and hunting put their biodiversity and ecological sustainability in check, causing the extinction of many species and the decrease of others, such as the jaguar, anteater, tapir and crowned eagle, among others.

Entering the park implies observing the life of the forest and the interaction between its inhabitants, as well as finding out about the importance of its preservation, both for the species and for the health of the planet.

Location.

The Impenetrable is located within the Gran Chaco ecoregion, which also extends to the Northwest of Córdoba and in the countries of Bolivia and Paraguay.

It is the third largest forest area in South America, after the Amazon and the Cerrado, in Brazil.

The brand new National Park protects the last redoubt of virgin forest, the third in importance in South America.

Tourist promotion of the park is presented as an alternative to traditional economic activities in the area. An example is the replacement of livestock with the sustainable creation of non-wood products, such as bush honey, carob flour and crafts in chaguar.

It is very clear that preserving and producing is possible.

The National Parks constitute the most important protected natural areas in Argentina.

They conserve biodiversity and ecosystems; they protect paleontological and archaeological sites; they promote environmental education, scientific research and nature tourism.

Fauna.

The Impenetrable, thanks to its recovery, became the ideal habitat for many critically endangered species and others threatened with extinction, such as the yaguareté, the carreta tatú, three types of peccaries, the anteater, the crowned eagle and the boa rainbow.

The yarará is a poisonous snake native to South America.

The high biodiversity and native forest of this nature reserve, which is in a very good state of conservation, is home to hundreds of species of birds, including the yabiré, the talking parrot, the black woodpecker, the charata, the rayador and the espinero fron reddish.

The Impenetrable houses endangered fauna such as the jaguar, the anteater, the tapir.

Flora.

In the El Impenetrable National Park there are carob forests. The quebrachos white and red from Santiago stand out.

Other species of the tree canopy are the palo santo, mistol, viraró, itín, moradillo, saucillo, molle, talas, chañar, Capparis, the drunk palo de flor blanca or yuchán and large cactus.

A specimen of drunk stick round tree top and beautiful flowers.

The albardones that border the Bermejo river abound with forests of river alder, Creole willow, and yellowwood. Somewhat farther from the river there are examples of soap stick and stone stick.