The National Parks of Argentina make up a network of 35
national park
A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...
s in
Argentina. The parks cover a very varied set of terrains and
biotope
A biotope is an area of uniform environmental conditions providing a living place for a specific assemblage of plants and animals. ''Biotope'' is almost synonymous with the term "habitat", which is more commonly used in English-speaking countrie ...
s, from
Baritú National Park
The Baritú National Park ( es, Parque Nacional Baritú) is a national park in Argentina, located in Santa Victoria Department, in the north of Salta Province, in the Argentine Northwest. The park borders Bolivia (Tarija Department), and its only ...
on the northern border with
Bolivia
, image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg
, flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center
, flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...
to
Tierra del Fuego National Park in the far south of the continent. The
Administración de Parques Nacionales
The National Parks Administration of Argentina ( es, Administración de Parques Nacionales) is a public agency in charge of maintaining the network of national parks, created in 1934 to preserve the biological diversity and the cultural resources ...
(National Parks Administration) is the agency that preserves and manages these national parks along with
Natural monuments and
National Reserves within the country.
The headquarters of the National Service are in downtown
Buenos Aires, on Santa Fe Avenue. A library and information centre are open to the public. The administration also covers the national monuments, such as the
Jaramillo Petrified Forest, and natural and educational reserves.
History
The creation of the National Parks dates back to the 1903 donation of of land in the Lake District in the
Andes foothills by
Francisco Moreno.
This formed the nucleus of a larger protected area in
Patagonia around
San Carlos de Bariloche
San Carlos de Bariloche, usually known as Bariloche (), is a city in the province of Río Negro, Argentina, situated in the foothills of the Andes on the southern shores of Nahuel Huapi Lake. It is located within the Nahuel Huapi National Park. ...
. In 1934, a law was passed creating the National Parks system, formalising the protected area as the
Nahuel Huapi National Park and creating the
Iguazú National Park
The Iguazú National Park ( es, Parque Nacional Iguazú) is a national park of Argentina, located in the Iguazú Department, in the north of the province of Misiones, Argentine Mesopotamia. It has an area of .
History
The area of the park w ...
.
Thus, Argentina was the third country in the
Americas
The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World.
Along with th ...
, after
United States and
Canada to establish a national parks system.
The National Park Police Force was born, enforcing the new laws preventing tree-felling and hunting. Their early task was largely to establish national sovereignty over these disputed areas and to protect borders. Five further national parks were declared in 1937 in Patagonia and the service planned new towns and facilities to promote tourism and education. Six more were declared by 1970.
In 1970 a new law established new categories of protection: National Parks, National Monuments, Educational Reserves, and Natural Reserves. Three national parks were designated in the 1970s. In 1980, another new law affirmed the status of national parks – this law is still in place. The 1980s saw the service reaching out to local communities and local government to help in the running and development of the national parks. Ten more national parks were created with local co-operation, sometimes at local instigation. In 2000,
Mburucuyá and
Copo National Park
Copo National Park ( es, Parque Nacional Copo) is a federal protected area in Santiago del Estero Province, Argentina. Established on 22 November 2000, it houses a representative sample of the Dry Chaco biodiversity in average state of conservat ...
s were declared, and
El Leoncito natural reserve was upgraded to a national park. Currently, there are 41
protected areas in Argentina,
which cover an area of or about 1.5% of the total land area in Argentina.
Map
National Parks
*
See also
*
List of World Heritage Sites in Argentina
*
List of UNESCO Biosphere Reserves in Argentina
References
External links
National Parks Administration(Spanish/English)
{{South America in topic, List of national parks of, countries_only=yes
Argentina
National parks
National parks