Chaco

GENERAL INFORMATION OF THE AREA

Chaco National Park has a 15.000 hectares surface. It is located in the Chaco province and was created in 1954 in order to protect a sample of the oriental Chaco.The protected area conserves the “quebracho colorado chaqueño” forests. These forests were located in the north of Santa Fe and Chaco occidental half, and had penetrated in the northeast of Corrientes province. The “quebracho” is a tree that has strong wood and tannin. Due this properties this specie suffered a devastating exploitation. For a whole century, “La Forestal” –a wood company- was the main causal of the "quebracho colorado"´s decline. Protecting the "quebracho colorado" forests is a central priority for the Administración de Parques Nacionales.PN Chaco (Chaco National Park) belongs to the “chaco húmedo” eco-region, which is a zone where predominates depressed environments. The climate is warm, and there are summer rains (they oscillate between the 750 y 1.300 millimetres).

WALKS AND SERVICES

In the National Park there is a big camping zone, with bathrooms, tables, burners, drinkable water and electric light. From the camping zone leave different paths that make possible to visit the region.In the “Panza de Cabra” small lake you can enjoy a wild camping, without bathrooms. It has two grills and two tables with seats.To discover the junge´s flora and fauna you can visit different paths. In the main path, which you can cover by car, you can see the “quebracho colorado chaqueño” scrubland. Then there are two pedestrian crossing:Path to the Carpincho and Yacaré small lakes: throughout a 3 km way you can arrive to the small lakes viewpoints. There, you can see a diversity of birds. ”De flora” path: this path has a 1,5 km distance. It starts in the camping suburbs.

NATURAL RESOURCES

Landscapes. Flora and fauna.in the protected area there are different environments: the scrubland, the “ sabana con palma blanca”, the swamps, and small lakes.The scrubland is conformed by different trees, such as the “quebracho colorado chaqueño”, the “espina corona”, the “guayacán”, the “lapacho”, the “algarrobo”, the “guayaibí” and the “quebracho blanco”.The forest inferior stratum is covered by “chaguares”. This vegetable has strong thorns in their leaves, due this property the protected area access is very difficult.This environment gives refuge to some big predators, such as the puma, the “moro cat”, the “ eirá”, the “chancho moro”, the “guazuncho” –a little deer-, the “carayá”, the “aguará guazú”, the “curiyú” and the “cocoé”.In particular after rains you can see in the different paths big mammals´ footprints.In PN Chaco (Chaco National Park) lives the “coralina punteada”, a snake with eye-catching colors.In the camping zone you can see “urracas paraguayas” and “moradas”, the “ipacaá”, and the “carpintero lomo blanco”. At night there are owls and “ atajacaminos”. In small lakes lives the “Panza de Cabra”, the “Yacaré”, and the “Carpincho”. There is a rich fauna composed by “biguáes”, the “burrito enano”, the “pollona negra”, the “gallito de agua”, the “chajá”, and some “garzas” such as the “hocó Colorado”. During the summer, the aquatic environments collect a diversity of frogs.In the scrubland adjacent zones inhabits the chaqueña aquatic turtle. The “caraguatás” or “ananás silvestres” are a good refuge to this specie, which eats little vertebrates and insects.In the protected area there are more than 340 species of birds.