The fragile and outstanding natural beauty of Argentina's Iguazu Falls is at risk of deforestation, depopulation and desertification, writes Jennifer Neill.
It is not easy to find words to describe the awe experienced before the magnificence of Iguazú Falls. It is an amazing national park on the border between Argentina and Brazil that protects a large expanse of sub-tropical jungle or "Selva Paranaense" surrounding what are possibly the most spectacular waterfalls in the world. It is undisputedly one of South America's greatest natural wonders and has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
"Iguazú" in Guaraní (the name and language of the indigenous people of the region) means "Great Water". True to this description, the Iguazú River is about four kilometres wide before it pours, thundering, 72 metres below into a great, 2,700-metre-wide gorge that was created by the movement of the earth's plates thousands of years ago. The unique thing is that it is not just one great curtain of water, as in the case of Niagara, but 250 separate cascades pounding down in a great jagged curve around densely vegetated islands and out over the uneven break in the earth.
All of this creates great upsurges of steam and vapour which bathe the surrounding land and, combined with the heat and sunlight, provide the richest environment for the abundance and diversity of life.
Iguazú's biodiversity is incredible. On a day's visit you may encounter a variety of species such as toucans, parrots, armadillos, countless varieties of butterfly, coatis and lots of other beautiful birds and exotic plants. In fact, the park contains some 200 species of tree, 448 species of bird, 71 species of mammal, 36 species of reptile, 20 species of amphibian and, among the most striking insects, 250 species of butterfly. Each living thing, from the tiniest organism to the largest mammal, has a role to play. There is a world of competition between them, but also of fascinating cooperative relationships.
Nowadays, sadly, the only superfluous species is the human. The indigenous Guaranís, as is the case in many Native American cultures before the arrival of the Europeans, lived in close harmony with nature. The jungle was a sacred entity for them, an earthly paradise of such beauty, abundance and diversity that its preservation was essential for both their physical and spiritual well-being. They hoped that, when they died, their spirit would become part of the vital life force running through the forest and maintaining its eternal abundance and fertility. They had a profound respect for nature and were acutely aware of themselves as being only a part of its delicate equilibrium.
How does this attitude compare to modern utilitarianism and consumerism? We have almost entirely lost the ability to live symbiotically with nature and it seems we now know only how to remove and replace. It seems our so-called "intelligence" is merely a cross we are building from which to hang ourselves. To put it in the words of the great Romantic poet, William Wordsworth: "Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers/Little we see in nature that is ours".
Thus, under the pressure of commercial gain, the magnificent Paraná jungle, which once extended over a million square kilometres across southern Brazil, Paraguay and north-eastern Argentina, has been reduced, by deforestation, to a mere 6 per cent of its original size.
Moreover, this deforestation has taken place largely to supply the European market with exotic hardwood and "cheap" pine and tobacco from the intensive exploitation of the cleared land. What is worse is that many of the fascinating species the Iguazú protects (such as the jaguar and the formidable harpy eagle) are faced with imminent extinction because they simply do not have enough space. The park is big (64,000 ha) but not big enough to ensure the future of many of the species it harbours. A much larger protected area is critical to provide sufficient living space for the animals at the top of the food chain, such as the jaguar, that occupy large niches within the ecosystem, and to maintain biological diversity within different species. Without this the populations will continue to diminish until they die out. Therefore, while hunting and illegal trafficking of endangered species is one reason for their decline, the biggest threat is the loss of habitat.
Thus, the jaguar, tapir, collared and giant anteaters, howler and capuchin monkeys and hundreds of other marvellous creatures all find themselves on the verge of extinction within their natural environment.
It is not just the animals which are threatened. Deforestation and the intensive exploitation of the exposed soil leads to erosion, as the jungle earth lacks nutrients and depends on the decomposition of vegetation for its fertility. Once the source of vegetal decay disappears, the plantations of crops such as tobacco, or trees such as pines, quickly absorb all the remaining nutrients and release chemicals into the soil, rendering it barren. This, combined with the hot sun and high levels of rainfall, erodes the soil and leaves the rock bed exposed. With no life to absorb the heat, the temperatures rise and desertification gradually takes over the wasted land.
So what is being done to prevent this? Experts in ecological conservation stress the importance of "biological corridors", untouched stretches of land linking protected areas and parks. In the case of the Paraná jungle surrounding Iguazú, this means preserving a green belt within the Argentinean province of Misiones, where most of what remains of this biome is located. Apart from Iguazú National Park, there are more than 30 other natural protected areas and parks in Misiones. In theory, the "green belt" should link them to enable the movement of animals between them. However, lack and corruption of funds hinder the effectiveness of this initiative and continuing economic pressure means that every day, lorries leave the province laden with trees freshly chopped from the dwindling rain forest.
What can we do? Boycotts can be put on the importation of certain types of timber, such as rosewood, from developing countries. Before buying wooden furniture or timber, we can verify the origin of the wood and ask ourselves if its aesthetics as a household object surpass its living potential. We can buy pine produced in areas which do not require deforestation for its plantation. We can inform ourselves about organisations and movements which aim to protect, preserve and conserve what remains of the world's great rainforests such the "Selva Paranaense." And we can lend our active support, whether financially or educationally, because the future of these amazingly perfect - and terribly fragile - biomes depends on each one of us.
Jennifer Neill is a graduate of NUI Galway and M.Phil. TCD, who visited Iguazú Falls during a year living and working in Argentina as a volunteer in some of its National Parks
Web Forest
www.ramsar.org
The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands
www.biodiv.org
Convention on Biological Diversity
www.fao.org
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
www.cites.org
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
www.iucn.org
International Union for the Conservation of Nature
www.unccd.int
United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification
www.basel.int
Secretariat of the Basel Convention; United Nations Environment Programme
www.cms.int
Convention on Migratory Species
www.unep.org
United Nations Environment Programme
www.gefweb.org
Global Environment Facility