Saving Critical Ecosystems. Protecting Threatened & Endangered Wildlife
The Payunia Provincial Reserve in Argentina’s Mendoza province hosts a variety of wildlife, including endangered Andean cats, pumas, and the largest migratory guanaco herd in the world. At nearly 1.6 million acres, this massive reserve covers an area nearly as large as the state of Delaware. Unfortunately, livestock in the area have competed with guanacos for food and water, and their presence has also led to retaliatory killings of cats that have taken young goats.
To address this, we’ve teamed up with WCS Argentina to expand the reserve and reduce livestock in the area, through the purchase of ranch land and by compensating retiring livestock producers for their grazing rights. So far, we have protected more than 150,000 acres, which includes summering habitat for guanacos, as well as habitat for a variety of other species, like the threatened Andean condor.
“When I first visited this area almost 10 years ago, I saw hundreds of large, wild animals simultaneously, including guanaco, foxes, and condors spread across a wide plain; surrounded by mountains and an extinct volcano”, said GreaterGood’s CEO, Tim Kunin. “It was like a South American Serengeti. I knew we had to protect this majestic and important landscape.”
Help Us Protect Even More
Our hope is to expand the reserve to protect the migratory guanacos’ wintering habitat, which can be found on a 100,000-acre parcel of land. Through the WCS partnership, we’ve been working to purchase this property for several years, with the ultimate goal of protecting the land. Just in time for Earth Day, we secured 50,000 acres of the northern portion of the parcel, which benefits the animals that call the reserve home and helps safeguard the globally endangered phenomena of ungulate migrations. The cattle that had been competing with the native wildlife on the land have been removed to begin revitalizing the area, which should lead to more migratory guanaco - and other animals - using this important habitat. We are now working on expanding the southern portion, and need your help to turn this dream into reality.
Your donation supports the purchase of the remaining 50,000 acres, which will conserve critical habitat for Argentinian wildlife and improve biodiversity in the region.
Greater Good Charities has ultimate authority and discretion with regard to the distribution of its funds. All expenditures made are consistent with the exempt purposes of Greater Good Charities.
