The Trinational Biodiversity Corridor () is a proposed ecological corridor that would link protected areas in the Alto Paraná Atlantic forests ecoregion in Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina.
History
The proposed corridor was first discussed in 1999 in the Symposium on Research and Biodiversity in Umuarama, PR. The idea was refined later that year at the 3rd Workshop on Traditional Initiative and Sustainable Use of Inland Atlantic Forest in Misiones, Argentina. The Trinational Green Corridor Initiative was established in 1999 with elected national representatives of the protected areas, national and international community and private business conservation organizations, rural development and community organizations and representatives of international organizations and scientific institutions. The purpose was to assist the many players involved in using and managing the natural resources of the Parana Forest region to work together.
In 2000 the meeting organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the Atlantic Forest NGO Network established the final design. The corridor would encompass conservation units in Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina in the Upper Paraná ecoregion. The concept was that the institutions responsible for these units would work together on a medium to long-term plan to connect the units by gradually restoring native vegetation in small regional corridors. The units alone would total . The Trinational Commission on the Interior Atlantic Forest and the Green Corridor Initiative was set up to address action plans developed at various workshops in the early 2000s. The members were one representative from each national commission, a representative from the WWF and a representative from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
WWF has been helping develop a joint strategy for the corridor, and in 2014 partnered with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to develop benchmark studies of transboundary parks, and of the Iguaçu National Park in particular. In July 2014 the IDB approved funding for the Iguaçu National Park in Brazil to include activities based on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (BES) to counter deforestation drivers in the area, with a view to expanding the approach to conservation units in Argentina and Paraguay.
Challenges
Creation of the corridor has been delayed by lack of interest or resistance from the Brazilian government, mainly the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which does not want to formally recognize a management space on the border between Brazil and other countries. The concept also faces local opposition. In October 2003 about 300 people with bulldozers invaded the Iguaçu National Park in an attempt to reopen the "Estrada do Colono" (Colonists' Road), which had been closed two years earlier because it divided the park in two and threatened the park's biological integrity. Dividing the park would in turn divide the corridor.
Related initiatives
The Green Corridor Law was enacted in Argentina in 1999 to provide for conservation of the natural heritage of the Misiones province. The Trinational Initiative would use this area as a core but expand it to cover sites such as Brazil's Iguaçu National Park and Turvo State Park beside Moconá Falls, and Paraguay's Moisés Bertoni Reserve. The Paraná River Biodiversity Corridor aims to promote integrated environmental management between the conservation units in the Brazilian portion of the Paraná River basin, in the Guarani Aquifer recharge area. It maintains an interface with the Trinational Biodiversity Corridor.
Extent
A large, continuous expanse of forest is needed to avoid genetic erosion of large mammals such as the jaguar, giant anteater and tapir, and birds such as the harpy eagle, parrots, macaws, toucans and hummingbirds that live in the forest. The tri-national corridor will provide a forest connection to maintain and restore biodiversity and ecological health in two natural World Heritage Sites, two UNESCO Biosphere Reserves, two national parks, and a number of provincial parks and private reserves. The Trinational Corridor will extend from the Morro do Diabo State Park in São Paulo state to the north to the Turvo State Park in Rio Grande do Sul state in the south. It may be possible to take a metapopulation approach to managing jaguars in the region.
The conservation units in the proposed corridor as of 2007 would be: Name Country State / Dept /Province Area (ha) Aguapeí State Park Brasil São Paulo 9,043 Caiuá Ecological Station Brasil Paraná 1,427 Cisalpina Private Natural Heritage Reserve Brasil Mato Grosso do Sul 12,000 Esmeralda Provincial Park Argentina Misiones 31,619 Iguazú National Park Argentina Misiones 54,380 Iguazú National Reserve Argentina Misiones 12,620 Iguaçu National Park Brasil Paraná 170,000 Ilha Grande National Park Brasil ParanáMato Grosso do Sul 78,000 Lagoa São Paulo Forest Reserve Brasil São Paulo 945 Mbaracayú Forest Nature Reserve Paraguay Canindeyú 64,000 Mico Leão Preto Ecological Station Brasil São Paulo 6,677 Morro do Diabo State Park Brasil São Paulo 35,000 Pantanal Paulista Wildlife Refuge Brasil São Paulo 15,960 Papel Misionero Natural Cultural Reserve Argentina Misiones 10,397 Rio Ivinhema State Park Brasil Mato Grosso do Sul 73,000 Rio do Peixe State Park Brasil São Paulo 11,800 San Rafael National Park Paraguay Itapúa 78,000 Turvo State Park Brasil Rio Grande do Sul 17,000 Urugua-í Provincial Park Argentina Misiones 84,000 Valle del Arroyo Cuña-Pirú Reserve Argentina Misiones 12,495
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