Location: 224 mi (360 km) North of Resistancia, Formosa Province Map
Area: 47,754 ha (118,000 acres)
Info: Ave Pueyrredón & RN 86, Laguna Blanca
Tel. (03718) 470 045
Open: daily
Río Pilcomayo National Park is located 224 mi (360 km) North of
Resistancia, Formosa Province in Argentina. Río Pilcomayo National
Park covers an area of 47,754 ha (118,000 acres). Río Pilcomayo
National Park was found on September 29, 1951 to protect river
Pulcomayo and surrounding marshes, creeks, lakes, rain forests and
plains. It is situated in the North East part of Formosa Province of
Argentina on the border with Paraguay. Río Pilcomayo National Park
climate is subtropical. It recieves 1200 mm (47 in) of rain
annually, although most of percipitations falls during the wet
months of the ear. During summer months (December through February)
temperatues can reach 104 degrees F, while in winter (June- August)
temperatures can plummet to 30's degrees.
Keep in mind that
much of Río Pilcomayo National Park is covered by wetlands, area
inhabited by many dangerous animals. Treat any body of water with
caution. Some of these animals include two caiman crocodile species,
including the yacare caiman and the broad snouted caiman.
Additionally protected bio reserve is inhabited by several species
of constricting snakes that includes the yellow anaconda (Eunectes
notaeus) and Hydrodynastes gigas.
Characteristic
The area protects a representative
zone of the Eastern or Humid Chaco environments. Due to the varied types
of climates and soils, there are different plant communities:
Riverside jungle.
Isletas de monte: forest formations in the form of
islands.
Savannahs with palm groves: with a discontinuous tree layer
and a herbaceous layer.
It houses large species: quebracho, white
and red and showy lapachos. Smaller trees grow in the lower strata:
carob trees, guayabíes, and drunken sticks.
This impenetrable
mountain is inhabited by animals such as the guazuncho (roe deer),
capybaras, peccaries, howler monkeys, pumas and birds such as the
charata and the ipacahá. In the lower sectors inhabit the maned guazú,
the rhea and the chuñas, all of them have the peculiarity of having long
limbs that allow them to move comfortably in the high grasslands and
flooded areas.
The aquatic environments are inhabited by storks,
herons, roseate spoonbills and ducks; also two species of alligators,
the black and the overo. Fish from these waters have adaptations that
allow them to survive in periods of drought, such as the tamboatá or
cascarudo, being able to breathe atmospheric air and change puddles by
propelling themselves with their pectoral fins.
This park has
been included in the List of Wetlands of International Importance
(Ramsar Convention).
It is an area with little slope, with many
pastures, estuaries and lagoons. The area is subject to periodic
flooding that alternates with periods of drought, creating the vast and
growing floodplains in the summer. Subtle unevenness in the terrain
allows differentiating sectors with different probabilities of flooding,
one of the determining factors of the environmental diversity of the
area. Most of the surface of the Park is occupied by grasslands and
caranday palm groves, with estuaries in the lowlands and islets of
mountains in the highest points.
White palm or caranday: up to 14
m tall and glaucous green palmate leaves; This tree-like monocotyledon
is used by parrots and other birds to make their nests. The straw-headed
woodpecker and the ñenday parrot nest in the hollows of their trunks.
These palm trees are also used as shelter by bats such as the large
long-tailed molosser
In the Laguna Blanca, the largest body of
water in the park with 700 ha, two species of alligator live: the overo
and the black, both in danger of extinction. There are also various
snakes such as the curiyú boa and aquatic snakes, among which the
ñacaniná stands out. On its coasts there are extensive pehuajozales and
pirizales where capybaras and coipos or "otters" live.
Climate
The climatic type of the park is tropical humid without a dry season.
Rainfall averages 1,200 mm per year, and the average annual temperature
is 23 °C. In summer, maximum temperatures can reach 45 °C and winters
are not exempt from days with low temperatures, but these frosts only
occur on some occasions.
The area is affected by the South
Atlantic anticyclone and by the low temperature of the South American
continent, which favor the formation of tropical air masses. The
combination of these masses with the polar Atlantic determines the
rainfall regime.
In terms of rainfall, they show a marked
decrease in the winter season and two peaks of increase, one in the
month of March, more accentuated, and another mild in the month of
November.
It is important to note that the Park is within the
area of frequent production of tornadoes, but there is no good record
of them.
Management
By resolution No. 126/2011 of the National
Parks Administration of May 19, 2011, it was established that the
national park would be classified for administrative purposes in the
category protected areas of complexity II, for which it is headed by a
designated intendant, On which 4 departments depend (Administration;
Works and Maintenance; National Park Rangers; Conservation and Public
Use) and 2 divisions (Dispatch and Desk of Inputs, Outputs, and
Notifications; Human Resources and Training). The administration has its
headquarters in the town of White Lagoon.
Mod cons
Camping,
bathrooms, information offices, first aid room, parking, places to
bathe. interpretation trails. Guided hikes by park rangers. Hotels in
Clorinda and Laguna Blanca.
Access mode
The RN 11 unites the cities of Formosa
(capital of the Province) and Clorinda. From Clorinda, RN 86 starts,
which passes near the southern limit of the Park, in the town of Laguna
Naick Neck. From here, after traveling 4 km along a local road, you
arrive at the recreational area and the Laguna Blanca Park Ranger
Sectional.
The Park can also be accessed from the town of Laguna
Blanca —located on National Route No. 86, 65 km from Clorinda— along a
local road that after 7 km reaches the “Estero Poí” Ranger Station. The
Park Administration is located in the town of Laguna Blanca. In the
Laguna Blanca recreational area there is a camp with tables, toilets and
stoves. From there, two paths of interpretation start.
Path to
the Laguna Blanca: it is accessed by walkways, through a pajozal, where
you can see capybaras and alligators among achiras with yellow flowers
and vines, as well as a variety of marsh birds. In the body of water you
can make navigation without motor.