Corrientes Province
Iberá Wetlands (13K km², South America's 2nd largest): rewilding became 'economic heart.' Yerba Mate Route + rice belt. By 2026: testing if ecotourism + agriculture coexist.
Corrientes Province demonstrates how conservation can become economic driver in traditionally extractive regions. The Iberá Wetlands—13,000 km² of floodplain, grassland, and subtropical forest (7,500 km² protected)—represent South America's second-largest freshwater wetlands after the Brazilian Pantanal, home to 4,000+ species including capybara, giant anteater, jaguar, and 360 bird species.
"Corrientes is not a wealthy province and is also very traditional," acknowledged Foundation Rewilding Argentina's coordinator. "In the past, the economy was all about cows, farming, timber and hunting—not conservation." Today, rewilding has transformed Iberá into "the economic heart of the province," generating jobs and revenue through ecotourism that communities previously associated only with extraction.
The Yerba Mate Route integrates agricultural heritage with tourism—1,200 kilometers connecting establishments including Las Marías, world's largest yerba mate producer, through plantations in "well-kept natural settings." This merges production agriculture with experiential tourism, capturing value from both harvest and visitation.
Rice cultivation adds export agriculture: Corrientes and Entre Ríos constitute Argentina's rice belt, covering 220,000 hectares. The province combines wetland conservation, mate production, and rice cultivation—diversified economy rather than monoculture dependency.
By 2026, Corrientes tests whether ecotourism revenue can continue growing alongside traditional agriculture, or whether conflicts between conservation and production limit both.