Iberá Wetlands or The Esteros del Ibera is a 13,000 sq km large wetland in Argentina . It is the province of Corrientes in the north-east of the country near the border with Brazil and Paraguay. The name of marshlands comes from the Guarani , where y vera means “light water”. The area is a mixture of swamp , marsh , lakes and lagoons. Iberá Wetlands are after the Pantanal in Brazil, the largest wetland in the world.
Since 1982, the Esteros del Ibera part of a protection zone, which accounts for 14% of the province of Corrientes, and thus represents the largest protected area in Argentina. The area is also one of the most important freshwater reservoirs of the continent. 245 km² are as wetlands of international importance since 2002 under the Ramsar Convention. The UNESCO is currently considering the inclusion in the World Heritage.
Iberá Wetlands are known for their biodiversity, including the Neotropical otter (Lontra longicaudis), the maned wolf , the pampas deer and swamp deer . In addition to live alligators, caimans, the capybara (water hog) and about 350 bird species. In much of the area, hunting is prohibited.
