World’s most southerly Ramsar site certified in Argentina
During the Convention on Wetlands COP15, Argentina officially received certification of the new Peninsular Mitre Ramsar Site of International Importance from the Ramsar Secretary General, Musonda Mumba.
located on the southern tip of South America, the Peninsular Mitre site covers 370,000 hectares of land and coastal areas on and around the eastern section of Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego.
“The designation of Peninsula Mitre as the world’s most southern Ramsar Site of International Importance is a wonderful moment for Argentina, the global climate and Wetlands International,” said Gaston Fulquet, Coordinador Regional del Programa Corredor Azul, Wetlands International Argentina, who was at the ceremony at COP15. “We are proud to have supported the government to designate and protect it as a Ramsar Site.
Along with its historical and cultural importance, Peninsular Mitre sustains rich biodiversity and harbours 80% of all the peatlands in Argentina, playing a crucial role in mitigating climate change by storing and capturing huge amounts of carbon.
The peatlands of Peninsular Mitre represent the largest concentration of this type of wetland in high southern latitudes, and support rare and endemic species, while this extraordinary region hosts important populations of birds, mammals and fish – and contains traces of Indigenous Peoples from 6000 years ago.
The marine-coastal wetlands provide breeding, feeding, and/or nesting grounds for native wildlife, including a wide variety of bird and aquatic mammal species, some of which are threatened, such as the marine and river otters and the southern rockhopper penguin. The adjacent sea contains remarkable kelp forests, which serve as shelter and feeding grounds for invertebrates, fish, birds, and marine mammals.