Today the so-called Sustainable Tourism in Argentina has emerged as an important component in the rapid expansion of the tourist industry forefront, as well as an invaluable and very efficient tool for the fight against the destruction of ecosystems and the loss of heritage cultural.
The principles of sustainability applied to tourism are relatively new, having developed from disciplines such as Ecotourism, Adventure Tourism and Responsible Tourism. These contemporary forms of “sightseeing” were gaining importance in the late eighties and cemented hard and enthusiasm conservation and sustainable practices due to growing concerns about the fragility of our environment and the viability of the tourism industry as protective and subsidizing conservation of natural and cultural resources of the area in which it develops.
In 1987, “Brunland Report” against the United Nations General Assembly alerted the world about the urgency in making rapid progress towards the development of an economic model that could be sustainable by not threaten natural resources and not damage the environment.
The report appealed to the general public and achieved great notoriety achieved popularity due to its avant-garde concepts of sustainable development, ideologically brewing what we now call sustainable tourism.
These early results is the birth of the implementation of sustainability in tourism, which focuses on maintaining adequate to socio-economic and environmental to ensure future generations access to the same resources we enjoy today level balance. Be they cultural or natural.
That is essentially a future for all.
A large number of NGOs, foundations and non-profit entities have been spreading the concept and the need for the implementation of sustainability in tourism work. From this new approach various agencies have drafted principles and parameters on sustainable standards for the sector.
Today is defined sustainable tourism as one that maintains the balance between social, economic and environmental interests. ”
In turn, the World Tourism Organization in 2000, adding that “sustainable tourism is one that meets the needs of today’s travelers and host regions while protecting and promoting opportunities for the future.”
Taking this kind of concepts and progress in relation to responsible tourism that developed from Yacutinga Lodge we present the following principles, which we wish to be accepted by our guests, our suppliers, by selling related agencies commercially us, since that our Company performs magnanimous efforts to establish this tourist philosophy.
Jungle
The Atlantic Forest or Parananese conforms with both the Yungas jungle eco-regions of Argentina, accounting between them a substantial part of the national biodiversity while occupying a small proportion of the country’s territory. Unlike the Argentine Yungas, this forest is presented in mostly continuously, forming near the Atlantic Forest Brazilian jungle the other major sectors in South America separated from the Amazon by extensive less humid barrier ranging from the Gran Chaco Caatinga in northeastern Brazil.
This system currently covers the central and northern province of Misiones. To the south it extends outside this area as marginal or riparian forests, mountains and narrow associated with the edges of the rivers of the Rio de la Plata.
The climate is warm and humid, with rainfall throughout the year (1,500 to 2,000 mm), more abundant in summer. The average temperature varies between 16 and 22 ° C, with mild winters and not excessively hot summers.
It is located on mountainous terrain, with hills of little height, ranging rising to the northeast up to 900 m. The floors are of laterite, red and acid type.
The dominant vegetation type is the subtropical jungle. The canopy is between 20 and 30 meters above ground level, below which there are layers of smaller trees, a dense understory tree ferns and reeds, umbrófilas herbs and many lianas, vines and epiphytes. Within the tree layer, it can not be said that there are dominant species, since one hectare is shared by twenty different trees, each represented by few individuals.
The area has a range of extremely varied ecosystems considering timber plants, non-timber flora, fauna, genetic heritage, water, soil, landscape, watershed regulation and uptake of greenhouse gases. The presence of frost is a constraint for the development of tropical crops.
This is one of the units with the highest number of protected areas created, almost all located in the province of Misiones. Many agencies are involved: there are two national reserves twelve provincial, three municipal and seven private. A high priority project is the integration of the different protected areas present counter the current process of impoverishment and fragmentation of this unit, with the consequent isolation (fragmentation) of existing stocks.
If one takes into account two indicators of the degree of protection current percentage based one in the original area of the ecoregion today declared APs including all categories of management and other administrative entities and in relation to the proportion of APs stricter categories (belonging a management categories I, II and III) we have found that this ecoregion (greater than 15% in the first case and more satisfactory coverage of 5% in the second) as it has values of 6.2% and 7.2 % respectively.
The main conservation problems to be faced this unit are related to the replacement of the forest for crops.
The selective extraction of the best examples of value timber tree species and deforestation to implement crop or pasture, has been running since the beginning of the colonization of the region at the expense of reducing the jungle area and deteriorate the remaining shelters.
Replacement of native forest by planted forest, reducing biodiversity, forest clear-cutting followed by its burning,
An irrational exploitation of the environment, coupled with heavy rainfall and steep relief, significantly accelerate soil erosion, with consequent loss of productive capacity of the land and an increase in sediment carried by rivers and streams (that facilitate clogging dikes and cause other environmental problems).
The fauna has suffered a significant setback, either by hunting or the disappearance or fragmentation of the environments it inhabits, even driving some species to the brink of extinction in Argentina, as is the case in this unit of the jaguar, wolf choker and merganser.
More recently the threat of large infrastructure projects, mainly hydroelectric dams that flood vast areas of natural environments, causing the disappearance of ecosystems and species arises. The most sensitive communities these changes are associated with rapid and shallow courses and gallery forests, which are interrupted regular cycles of flooding. Dams Yacyreta (Corrientes) and Urugua-i (Misiones), along with numerous similar projects to be located on the Parana and Uruguay rivers could cause profound changes this ecoregion.
The highly endangered in the province of Misiones is the main continuous remnant of this unit worldwide.
Iguazu falls
The Iguazu Falls are undoubtedly the finest in the world, not only for its spectacular waterfalls but also be located in an environment of subtropical vegetation, forming part of the Iguazu National Park. This majestic whim of nature, become a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, is formed by 275 waterfalls up to 70 meters high spread in a horseshoe shape. It is a stunning natural scenery that presents itself as one of the most wonderful experiences to indulge our senses and emotions.
The various waterfalls, should be explored on foot, with easy access circuits demarcated by walkways built for that purpose. Bridges, stairways and paths full of vegetation are crossed, the magnificent views are enjoyed from below and from above to reach the maximum point of amazement: The Devil’s Throat. From their viewpoint water to produce a dense fog crashing down by a vacuum of more than 80 meters high. Because of this haze, usually the landscape is completed by the formation of one to two simultaneous rainbow.
As most extravagant excursion we recommend joining the Full Moon Tour, organized by rangers. The idea is to look at the rainbow, but this time formed by the Moon.
