"Our first few projects in Chile involved protecting relatively intact ecosystems," explained Kristine, whose late husband died in a kayaking accident in 2015. But when they saw that many longstanding Iberá residents – such as the jaguar, giant otter, tapir and giant anteater – had completely disappeared, and other species, such as the pampas deer and ocelot, were on the brink of the same fate, they realised they had to do more. The couple began purchasing large tracts of land from cattle ranchers, initially with the aim of protecting them. In the 1990s, husband-and-wife entrepreneurs Doug and Kristine Tompkins relocated to South America from the US to engage in large-scale conservation.
Today, thanks to a transformational rewilding initiative, it has become one of South America's premier wildlife-watching destinations. Years of commercial foresting, illegal hunting and cattle ranching had taken a toll on the land and thrown the ecosystem off balance. Three decades ago, Iberá (which means "shining waters" in the local Indigenous Guaraní language) was a degraded backwater that was virtually unknown outside Argentina. The wetlands, which are home to a stunning array of animals and plants – including more than 360 bird species – are an increasingly popular pilgrimage for wildlife enthusiasts. Located in north-east Argentina, the Iberá Wetlands ( Esteros del Iberá) are one of the most important freshwater ecosystems in South America: a 13,000-sq-km wilderness of lakes, floodplains, grassland and subtropical forest tucked into a corner of the nation's Corrientes Province, around 640km north of Buenos Aires.
Here in Iberá, every part of the aquatic landscape is seemingly filled with life. On the other, a family of capybara stood partly submerged in the mud, while a languid yacaré caiman warmed itself nearby, mouth agape. To one side, a cocoi heron picked its way across lilypads in search of frogs, its long-feathered plumes rising and falling in the soft breeze. As the languid waters of the Carambolita stream shimmered in the early morning sun, our small flotilla of kayaks nosed its way against the gentle current.
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