Photo by: @bethjwald/@thephotosociety A roseate #spoonbill lifts off from Laguna #Iberá, a large lake in the heart of the Esteros del Iberá, a vast region of #wetlands and savannah grassland in #Corrientes Province, #Argentina. The photo was taken in 2012 and is part of a series this week celebrating the accomplishments of visionary conservationist Doug Tompkins, who died Dec 8, 2015 in a kayaking accident in Chile. The Esteros is the largest reserve of #freshwater in #Argentina and one of the most important wetlands in South America - it is a refuge for hundreds of species of birds and animals. Working with national and provincial government, wildlands #philanthropists and #conservationists Doug and Kris Tompkins have, through their non-profit The Conservation Land Trust, purchased land surrounding the existing 550,000 hectare Iberá Provincial Reserve, to act as a buffer to the reserve, and to expand wildlife habitat and protection. They have re-introduced species long absent from Iberá, including giant anteater, pampas deer, collaried peccaries and are working on the re-introduction of jaguars. On Dec 22, 2015, Kris Tompkins met with the President of Argentina, Maurcicio Macri to promise the donation of CLT’s 150,000 hectares to the National Park System, which, when combined with the existing reserve, will create the country’s largest National Park. Doug’s energy, his ideas and vision, will be sorely missed - but his legacy and spirit remains in the 2.2 million acres of forest, steppe, mountains, wetlands and critical wildlife habitat protected in Chile and Argentina, the 5 national parks he helped create,in wild rivers un-dammed and which still flow free, and in the inspiration he has given to all of us who knew and loved him to work for protection of wild lands and creatures. For more information- www.tompkinsconservation.org, http://parqueibera.corrientes.gob.ar @conservacionpatagonica #douglastompkins #dougtompkins #nationalpark #Reserva ProvincialEsterosdelIberá.#parquesnacionales #wildlandsphilanthropy #deepecology #wilderness #southamerica #wildlands #wilderness #birds #environment #santacruz #provenciacorrientes #ConservationLandTrust

thephotosocietyさん(@thephotosociety)が投稿した動画 - 2016/01/06 01:08:32