Kaa-Iya del Gran Chaco National Park and Integrated Management Natural Area
Encyclopedia
Kaa-Iya del Gran Chaco National Park and Integrated Management Natural Area (Parque Nacional y Area Natural de Manejo Integrado Kaa-Iya del Gran Chaco) is the biggest national park
National park
A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...

 in Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...

 and one of the largest in South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

. It is a protected area
Protected area
Protected areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognised natural, ecological and/or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the enabling laws of each country or the regulations of the international...

 in the region of the Gran Chaco
Gran Chaco
The Gran Chaco is a sparsely populated, hot and semi-arid lowland region of the Río de la Plata basin, divided among eastern Bolivia, Paraguay, northern Argentina and a portion of the Brazilian states of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul, where it is connected with the Pantanal region...

 and has a larger surface area than Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

. It is situated in the south of Santa Cruz Department
Santa Cruz Department
Santa Cruz, with an area of 370,621 km², is the largest of the nine constituent departments of Bolivia. In the 2001 census, it reported a population of 2,029,471. The capital is the city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra. The state is one of the wealthiest states in Bolivia with huge reserves of...

 on the border with Paraguay
Paraguay
Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...

 in the Cordillera Province
Cordillera Province (Bolivia)
Cordillera is a province in the Santa Cruz Department, Bolivia. Its capital is Lagunillas.- Geography :This area of the Santa Cruz Chaco occupies the southern part of the department, is the largest province of the country, geographically defined as the Gran Chaco and that extends to the departments...

 (Charagua Municipality) and Chiquitos Province
Chiquitos Province
Chiquitanía is a region of tropical savannas in the Santa Cruz Department in eastern Bolivia."Chiquitos" is the colonial name for what is now essentially five of the six provinces that make up the Chiquitania, a region in Bolivia's Santa Cruz department. "Chiquitos" refers to a region, not a tribe...

 (Pailón Municipality and San José de Chiquitos Municipality).

Etymology

Kaa-Iya is a term from Guarani mythology
Guaraní mythology
The Guaraní people live in south-central part of South America, especially in Paraguay and parts of the surrounding areas of Argentina, Brazil, and Bolivia.-Overview:There exist no written records of the ancient myths and legends associated with the Guaraní people...

 which means "mountain owners", or a place where riches are found, in the sense of abundance of natural resources and the relationship between man and nature.

General Comments

  • Area: 3,441,115  hectares (34,411.15 km²)
  • Altitude: between 100 and 839 meters above sea level.
  • Rainfall: 1,400 to 400 mm annually.
  • Hydrology: The principal river is the Parapetí, among many others.
  • Coordinates: Latitude 17º42’30’’ - 20º02’30” S, Longitude 60º03’30’’ – 62º31’30’’ W

Characteristics of the area

It is principally known for containing the largest tropical wooded area in the world. It also contains an incredible range of animal species, most notably the last remaining large felidae
Felidae
Felidae is the biological family of the cats; a member of this family is called a felid. Felids are the strictest carnivores of the thirteen terrestrial families in the order Carnivora, although the three families of marine mammals comprising the superfamily pinnipedia are as carnivorous as the...

 and more than 100 other distinct species of mammal.

Flora

880 species of vascular plants and 28 species of spore plants (plants without flowers) have been registered in the National Park, as well as an estimated 1500 species of higher plants. Some examples which stand out are the red quebracho (Schinopsis lorentzii
Schinopsis lorentzii
Schinopsis lorentzii is a hardwood tree, native of the Paraguayan subtropical area, which forms forests in Gran Chaco region of Argentina, in Paraguay, and Bolivia. Some of its common names are coronillo, quebracho Cornillo , quebracho chaqueño, quebracho colorado santiagueño, quebracho macho, and...

), black soto (Schinopsis cornuta), black guayacán (Izozogia nelly), cuchi (Myracrodruon urundeuva
Myracrodruon urundeuva
Myracrodruon urundeuva is a timber tree, which is often used for beekeeping...

), purple guayacán (Bulnesia sarmientoi
Bulnesia sarmientoi
Bulnesia sarmientoi is a tree that inhabits a part of the Gran Chaco area in South America, around the Argentina-Bolivia-Paraguay border. Its wood is often traded as Argentine lignum vitae or Paraguay lignum vitae, since it has properties and uses similar to the "true" lignum vitae trees of genus...

), soto de arenales (Schinopsis corneta), and cupesí (Prosopis chilensis).

Other important species are the floss silk tree (Chorisia speciosa), Iberá-Bira (Caesalpinia paraguariensis
Caesalpinia paraguariensis
Caesalpinia paraguariensis is a species of legume in the Fabaceae family.It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, and Paraguay.It is threatened by habitat loss.-References:...

), mistol (Ziziphus mistol
Ziziphus mistol
Ziziphus mistol or mistol is a spiniferous tree of the family Rhamnaceae, that belongs to genus Ziziphus, natural of certain areas of Gran Chaco, South America...

), other species such as Bougainvillea praecox, Acacia feddeana, Aspidosperma pyrifolium, wax palm (Copernicia alba
Copernicia alba
Copernicia alba is a South American species of palm tree, which is found in the humid part of the Gran Chaco ecoregion in Bolivia, Paraguay, Colombia, Brazil and Argentina . They often, but not always, form dense single-species woodlands...

) and palma saó (Trithrinax schizophylla).

Fauna

The fauna present in the area is representative of the Chaqueña plains region, with 350 registered species, 89 species of snakes, 301 species of birds, 65 species of small mammals and 59 species of large mammals. Foremost among these are the Chacoan Peccary
Chacoan peccary
The Chacoan peccary or Tagua is a species of peccary found in the Gran Chaco of Paraguay, Bolivia and Argentina. About 3000 exist in the world...

, known locally as tagua or quilimero pig, a common species in Chaco, armadillos (Tolypeutes matacus and Chlamyphorus retusus), common in the region, the Chacoan Mara
Chacoan Mara
The Chacoan Mara, Dolichotis salinicola, is a relatively large rodent from South America of the cavy family. They are a close relative of the better known Patagonian Mara.-Habitat:...

 and Conover's Tuco-tuco
Conover's Tuco-tuco
Conover's Tuco-tuco is a species of rodent in the family Ctenomyidae.It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, and Paraguay....

. The jaguar
Jaguar
The jaguar is a big cat, a feline in the Panthera genus, and is the only Panthera species found in the Americas. The jaguar is the third-largest feline after the tiger and the lion, and the largest in the Western Hemisphere. The jaguar's present range extends from Southern United States and Mexico...

, puma, ocelot
Ocelot
The ocelot , pronounced /ˈɒsəˌlɒt/, also known as the dwarf leopard or McKenney's wildcat is a wild cat distributed over South and Central America and Mexico, but has been reported as far north as Texas and in Trinidad, in the Caribbean...

 and maned wolf
Maned Wolf
The maned wolf is the largest canid of South America, resembling a large fox with reddish fur.This mammal is found in open and semi-open habitats, especially grasslands with scattered bushes and trees, in south, central-west and south-eastern Brazil The maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus) is the...

 can also be found.

The presence of guanacos
Guañacos
Guañacos is a village and municipality in Neuquén Province in southwestern Argentina.-References:...

 has been confirmed in the sand-dunes in the south-east of the Natural Area. The white-lipped peccary
White-lipped Peccary
The White-lipped Peccary, Tayassu pecari, is a peccary species found in Central and South America, living in rainforest, dry forest and chaco scrub. It is monotypic within the genus Tayassu....

, armadillo, giant armadillo
Giant Armadillo
The giant armadillo , colloquially tatou, ocarro, tatu-canastra or tatú carreta, is the largest living species of armadillo...

, silvery marmoset
Silvery Marmoset
The silvery marmoset is a New World monkey that lives in Brazil, south and east of the Amazon basin. Compared to other marmosets, they have a very isolated habitat....

, black howler
Black Howler
The Black howler is a species of howler monkey, a large New World monkey, from northeast Argentina, east Bolivia, east and south Brazil and Paraguay. Together with the brown howler, it is the southernmost member of the Alouatta genus. Only the adult male is black; adult females and juveniles of...

 monkey, pampas deer
Pampas Deer
Pampas deer, Ozotoceros bezoarticus, live in the grasslands of South America at low elevations. They are also known as Venado or Gama. Their habitat includes water and hills, often with winter drought, and grass that is high enough to cover a standing deer...

, bare-faced Curassow
Bare-faced Curassow
The Bare-faced Curassow is a species of bird in the Cracidae family, the chachalacas, guans, curassows, etc.It is found in eastern-central and southern Brazil, Paraguay, and eastern Bolivia, and extreme northeast Argentina, in the cerrado, pantanal, and the southeastern region of the Amazon...

, crowned eagle
Crowned Eagle
The Crowned Eagle or Crowned Hawk-eagle , is a very large, powerful, crested bird of prey found in sub-Saharan Africa; in Southern Africa it is restricted to suitable habitat in the eastern areas. It is the only extant member of the genus Stephanoaetus...

 and black-and-white Hawk-eagle
Black-and-white Hawk-eagle
The Black-and-white Hawk-Eagle is a bird of prey species in the eagle and hawk family...

 can also be found here.

Local population

The pattern of human occupation in the area is made up of the Guaranís and Chiquitanos villages as well as farmers. Human presence is only in the outlying areas although it is moving inwards in respect to the use of the area's resources. There is a greater concentration of people towards the west (Isozo), Chiquitano settlements in the north and some scattered communities in other areas. In any case, it can be confirmed that the interior of the area is free of human occupation.

The greatest concentration of people is found towards the west (Bañados de Izoso), in the area's power base, where there are more than twenty Guaraní communities, including Guarirenda, Rincón, Huirapendi, Guirayasa, Coropo, Cacharí, Aguraigua, Guirapendio, Isiporenda, and Yapiroa. The largest Chiquitana community is San Pablo, located in the north.

There are groups of mostly Izoceños and Ayoreode origin, including uncontacted groups of Ayoreode nomads.

Administration

The development of the national park is being carried out under shared administration, under an agreement with the Upper and Lower Izozog Authority (Capitanía del Alto y Bajo Izozog), an indigenous Izoceño-Guaraní organisation, signed on the 24th November 1995.

The development committee is composed of representatives from the municipalities of Charagua, Pailón, San José de Chuiquitos, and the sub-mayoralty of Isoso, as well as the founding organisations of TURUBO, CABI, CICHIPA (Indigenous Office for Chiquitano Communities of Pailón), Santa Teresita (Ayorea Community), CIMCI, and representatives of the government, SERNAP and the Departmental Prefecture.

Relevant aspects

The park makes up the only area set aside to protect the extensive remaining areas of the South American Chaco, including most of the ecosystems belonging to the region.

This park, despite its low prominence and the apparent monotony of its countryside, is of great interest due the enormous richness of its wildlife for the development of eco- and adventure tourism.

The presence of representatives of the indigenous Izoceño, Chiquitano and Ayorea populations increases the importance of the area; among other cultural expressions, they produced very stylised craftwork.

There are historic sites in the power base of the region, e.g. the Missions of San José de Chiquitos and Santa Cruz la Vieja.

The population mostly consists of the Izoceño, Chiquitano and Ayoreode ethnicities, including a group of Ayoreode nomads. There are other populations recently migrated from other regions of Santa Cruz (ranch owners, farm workers, rural manual workers) who mostly work in cattle ranching. Access to the area is difficult.

Potential

Given its double categorisation as National Park and Integrated Management Natural Area, the Area presents enormous possibilities for developing wildlife management programs of regional applicability.

The region undoubtedly constitutes a important natural reservoir of genetic diversity, both animal and human (indigenous Guaraní cultures). Furthermore, due to its natural and cultural value, tourist operations could be developed in the Area.

The biological diversity of the Protected Area is due to variability in climate and soil conditions, as well as the lack of availability of water, which influence the unusual flora and fauna of the region.

Threats

The most serious threats to the park come principally from hydrocarbon-related activities; seismic prospecting in the Bañados, drilling for petroleum in Ustarez and the Bolivia-Brazil gas pipelines, followed by the expansion of agricultural and cattle-ranching landuse; illegal commercial hunting and the diversion of the river Parapeto for agricultural purposes.

Power base

The area's most important settlements are Camiri, Charagua, Boyuibe and Cabezas in Cordillera Province, and San José in Chiquitos Province.

Accessibility

Access to the area is difficult. In the humid season, the Area's roads are unusable. Except for the Santa Cruz-Bajo Izoso-Camiri road which borders the Area and partially enters the communities of Bajo Izoso, there are no other stable roads. In many zones entrance is via cattle paths. From San José de Chiquitos there is a bridlepath which joins Fortín Ravelo and Suárez Arana, forming the most stable path in the extreme east of the Area.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK