Projects We Support - Natura International

We Support the Protection of Natural Areas

A protected area is a tool for the long-term conservation of the biological and cultural diversity of a territory. It is composed of geographically defined and delimited spaces, which must be integrated with the surrounding territories to guarantee biological connectivity (for example, through buffer zones or ecological corridors). It should also integrate local communities through participatory mechanisms, both at the time of creation and during implementation.

There are various categories of protected area management, ranging from strict categories, which only allow research, control and surveillance, to less strict categories, which allow the sustainable use of natural resources. There are different governance schemes for the areas: they can be administered by governments at different levels (municipal, provincial, national), by private landowners, indigenous or local peoples, universities, or they can be jointly managed by some of these administrators.

The creation of a protected area offers significant benefits for biodiversity and ecosystem services. A protected area can preserve key portions of watersheds (such as aquifer catchment and recharge sites), contributing to the care of water for consumption and productive use in neighboring areas; it can protect key links in food chains, collaborating in the biological control of pests and/or naturally regulating the emergence of zoonotic diseases; and it allows the custody of landscapes and cultural-natural sites that serve for the enjoyment, recreation and spiritual connection of visitors and local inhabitants. The development of sustainable tourism, scientific, recreational and environmental education activities in these areas provides opportunities for local and regional socio-economic development.

At Natura International we are dedicated to promoting the creation of new protected areas in areas where globally important biodiversity is threatened. We invest mainly in Argentina, but also support highly catalytic projects in the Amazon rainforests and Andean cloud forests when the opportunity arises.

Our in-country partners and allies work closely with local communities and municipal, provincial and national governments, articulating with local NGOs and the scientific sector to achieve these conservation objectives. We are committed to expanding the network of protected areas, which represent an extraordinary opportunity for communities and conservation.

La Rioja: Protected Area in the Sierras of Famatina

We support Natura Argentina’s work toward the creation of a protected area in the Sierras de Famatina, an area of great biological value and beauty in La Rioja, located in northwestern Argentina.

Its high mountains and deep valleys contain an important diversity of plants and animals. Its snow-covered peaks rise to over 5,000 meters, with montane forests and the vegetation at its base creating a beautiful landscape that deserves to be protected.

The conservation of this area has been threatened on several occasions by large international mining companies seeking to extract the gold deposits in these Sierras, which damages the main resource of this place: water.

Natura Argentina works together with the local communities to conserve the watershed and the biodiversity of the area, and to strengthen the local economy by promoting nature tourism as a sustainable alternative. The creation of a protected area that provides a legal shield to these mountains will put an end to the fight against open-pit mining.

Learn more about this and other projects of Natura Argentina at: www.naturaargentina.org

Salta: Protection of Chaco and Altos Andes

In Salta, Natura Argentina works with the provincial government, local communities and other relevant stakeholders to promote the participatory design of protected areas in natural and cultural landscapes of conservation priority. These areas will preserve a variety of ecosystems, ranging from the rich forests of the Chaco in the lowlands to the High Andes at over 5,000 meters.

These areas contain many species of conservation concern, including endangered species such as the Chacoan Peccary, the Jaguar, the Taruca and the Andean Cat. The territories contain relevant cultural heritage and are also important for human needs and well-being, as they host the upper reaches of watersheds that provide drinking water to downstream communities or protect indigenous lands.

Natura Argentina facilitates and supports alliances and constructive dialogues with governments, indigenous peoples, local inhabitants, universities and municipalities, with the aim of achieving the declaration of protected areas through legitimate participatory processes.

Ansenuza National Park

Since 2017, Natura International has supported Natura Argentina and other local conservationists in their efforts to create a protected area in Ansenuza.

Natura Argentina collaborates with the national and provincial government for the conservation of the Mar Chiquita and the Rio Dulce wetland ecosystems in the provinces of Córdoba and Santiago del Estero. Their joint efforts led to the declaration of the Ansenuza National Park of over 1.6 million acres in 2022, located in Córdoba.

This wetland stands out for its vast diversity of environments and represents a key site for global biodiversity conservation.

Its grasslands, forests, and coastal areas support a wide variety of wildlife, including three out of the six flamingo species worldwide. Moreover, it serves as a primary destination for long-distance migrants, such as the Wilson’s Phalarope or swimming plovers.

This region is the habitat for numerous species currently classified under various levels of threat, including the maned wolf, collared peccary, and armadillo.

Mendoza

In the Uspallata Valley, we are supporting Natura Argentina in its goal to create the first National Park in the province of Mendoza, and to strengthen the conservation of the adjoining Defense Natural Reserve.

Uspallata is a stunningly beautiful Andean landscape, comprising more than 80 glaciers, watercourses and high-altitude wetlands (“vegas”), and the headwaters of the Mendoza River. Its ecosystems span the Puna and High Andean ecoregions, characterized by an Andean fauna including the Andean Cat, one of the five most endangered felines in the world.

Uspallata also has a wealth of cultural values related to the original settlers, the Incan empire including a portion of the Inca Road or Qhapaq Ñan, and for its role in the history of the independence of Latin America, as it was here that General José de San Martín made his strategic crossing in 1817 to liberate Chile.

Catamarca

Our partner Natura Argentina has succeeded in working with local governments and communities to protect 370,500 acres of rich cloud forests in the Sierras de Ambato in Catamarca province, with support from ourselves and Word Land Trust.

This ecological corridor protects the iconic Taruca deer, the endangered Black-and-chestnut Eagle, guanacos, foxes and chinchillas, and is key to the protection of essential water basins for the region, as well as important archaeological and cultural sites.

Education workshops held by Natura Argentina with schools and municipalities strengthen local awareness and management capacity, while partnerships with academia and NGOs expand research and governance of the protected areas.

Bolivia

In Bolivia, we are helping to protect key sites for biodiversity such as jungas cloud forests, both by creating municipal protected areas, and then working to develop sustainable financing mechanisms for their future management.

One of our funding strategies is to provide gap funding for conservation projects that have depleted available funds, or are waiting for future expected funding. We were pleased to be able to provide Natura Bolivia with the final funding needed to complete the declaration of the municipal protected area of Mandiyurenda, protecting 207,500 acres of jungas cloud forest in southern Bolivia. This area is a vital biological corridor hosting endemic species and rare fauna, and is important both to global efforts to mitigate climate change, and locally to promote sustainable livelihoods and keep indigenous Guaraní culture alive.
Natura International also works to strengthen the management of protected areas by creating sustainable funding mechanisms like water funds, in which water users pay a fee for the management of their forested watersheds. Natura Bolivia works in two kinds of water programs: helping small municipalities develop reciprocal agreements for water between downstream communities and upstream communities, which they have successfully implemented in 81 municipalities in Bolivia; and more formal water funds that create a trust mechanism and collect water fees in a major city to ensure protection of biodiverse watersheds. We are supporting Natura Bolivia in this latter approach in the cities of Sucre and Tarija, where they have accomplished the majority of the work, and hope the final ordinances will soon be approved and implemented.

Ecuador

In Ecuador, we support projects to create new protected areas in two of the world’s most biodiverse ecosystems, the Ecuadorian Amazon, and Andean cloud forests, as well as the highly endangered Tumbesian dry forest ecosystem with its many endemic species.

We are supporting our partner Fundación Paisajes Sostenibles-PASOS to create the Santa Elena Provincial System of Protected Areas, which could reach 270,000 acres of provincial and municipal reserves. This area will conserve a major portion of Santa Elena province’s native coastal Tumbesian dry forests, a highly endangered ecosystem recognized for its wide range of endemic species. This area protects most of the province’s water sources, and stores 17 million tons of carbon that contributes to the mitigation of global climate change.
We co-financed the work of Naturaleza y Cultura that led to the creation of the Santiago Municipal Protected Area of more than 32,000 acres, declared in March 2021. The reserve preserves extremely rich cloud forests and is a source of water for 15,000 people.
Our support helped Refugio Paz de las Aves, a privately-owned reserve successfully secure funds for the acquisition of 123 acres of highly biodiverse land in the Andes of Ecuador. This area is a bird lover’s paradise as it hosts spectacular birds like the Giant Antpitta and the Andean Cock-of-the-Rock. To assist further efforts, Natura International is supporting the establishment of the Foundation Paz de las Aves, to advance conservation in this area.

Peru

In Peru, our focus is on conserving the rich rainforests and cloud forests of the Amazon basin, as well as the highly endangered Tumbesian dry tropical forests in the northwest.

We are supporting the work of the Upper Amazon Conservancy (UAC) to advance the land titling application for the Alto Esperanza Indigenous community in the department of Pucallpa that would protect over 150,000 acres of rich Amazon rainforest. We achieved success in 2024 when the Ucayali’s titling office recognized the demarcation of Alto Esperanza’s territory, rejecting other claims. This effort will make Alto Esperanza the first community in initial contact with modern society to receive land title in Peru’s history, and by doing so protect one of the most intact yet threatened parts of the Peruvian Amazon. This area forms part of a massive 10-million-hectare mosaic of conservation areas and indigenous lands that contains some of the most remote and least disturbed forests in the entire Amazon basin, and one of the highest concentrations of isolated people on Earth.
In Lambayeque, we’ve partnered with Spectacled Bear Conservation (SBC) to help the Salas community to designate 24,000 acres of their lands as a private protected area, recognized under Peru’s National System of Protected Areas. The Tumbesian Dry Forest where the community lands are located have high biodiversity richness, endemism, and connectivity to other protected areas like the Laquipampa Wildlife Reserve. Our funding will allow SBC to support the process of establishing the protected area by providing education, legal and mapping assistance to the community, and also to support women-led livelihood activities through specialized training.
Our partner Amazonicos por la Amazonía (AMPA) is providing technical support to the leaders of the Shawi Nation to promote a community-based conservation initiative to safeguard approximately 143,000 acres of their ecologically-rich ancestral territory, under threat from a 34-mile road project. The main objective is to ensure the legal protection of their territorial security while developing a collaborative relationship based on trust.