Argentina’s Latest Park Is the Dimension of Yosemite Nationwide Park

For generations, humpback whales have traveled to the southern coast of Argentina to calve and nurse. Large petrels and imperial cormorants come to nest, and sea lions and Magellanic penguins congregate. It is among the most wildlife-rich corners of the South Atlantic Ocean and is typically known as “the Galápagos of Argentina”—however till just lately, lots of the animals have been threatened by industrial fishing.

A brand new marine provincial park, the world’s first, will change that. Argentina’s new Patagonia Azul Provincial Park expands the earlier protected sliver of land dramatically, successfully safeguarding a marine coastal space that’s roughly the dimensions of Yosemite Nationwide Park (or 729,294 acres). Not solely does the acreage defend the world’s plentiful wildlife, who come to feed and breed, but it surely safeguards over 60 islands and islets, kelp forests, and rugged coastal habitats.

“It is a resounding win for marine conservation,” Sofia Heinonen, govt director of Rewilding Argentina, mentioned in a press launch shared with Journey + Leisure. “Patagonia Azul locations underneath authorized safety one of the crucial biodiverse areas of the Argentine Sea with over 50 species of seabirds, lots of which nest within the greater than 60 islands and islets with kelp forests, islands and rocky intertidal areas that assist distinctive ecosystems the place various sorts of sea life converge.”

Rewilding Argentina, a conservation group that purchases non-public land and donates it for nationwide parks, offered the land that can act as the doorway to the park and its islands. It is going to additionally assist the park develop amenities for guests—like campgrounds and trails—and proceed monitoring populations of humpback whales, petrels, penguins, and sea lions.

The formation of the park was led by the federal government of Chubut (the native province), Argentine Nationwide Parks Administration, non-governmental organizations, and the area people of Camarones.

The brand new, expansive Patagonia Azul Provincial Park is linked to different famend wildlife areas through a scenic coastal highway that runs from the Cabo Dos Bahías Protected Pure Space, which is understood for its penguin colony, to the village of Bahía Bustamante, the one city in Argentina devoted to accumulating seaweed and mussels.

Plans are underway to make the brand new park extra suited to guests, together with the addition of mountaineering trails, campsites, a organic station, and marine entry factors.