Conservation
From the beginning of our project in 2008, we understood the importance of having professionals (biologists, researchers and naturalists) to help us understand the biological value of its natural environments and to define its potential as a key area for conservation.
Adequate management of natural protected areas requires strategic planning instruments (Management Plan) to guide decisions to be made in the short, medium and long term, as well as to allow for monitoring and evaluation.
Scientific Research
Knowing in depth the complexity of the environments that make up our natural reserve is essential to carry out restoration and conservation strategies based on scientific knowledge. That is why El Potrero Reserve works together with different NGOs and universities, collaborating as a space for research, survey and monitoring to generate knowledge that is useful, not only for our project but also for the welfare and sustainable development of the whole community.
Monitoring and Surveys
Wildlife monitoring and surveys help to measure the biodiversity of the natural environments we are conserving and to generate projects aimed at protecting certain species in vulnerable situations.
In this way, the use of camera traps at key sites in the Reserve is very useful, especially in complex environments for observation with the naked eye or to record animals with nocturnal habits or elusive and stealthy behaviors (which would otherwise be very difficult to detect), as well as to recognize activity patterns, calculate the population density of different species and identify specific individuals by physical traits.
In addition, camera traps are a fundamental tool in our pre-release facility, where there are rehabilitated specimens in their pre-release stage, which still need to be monitored in their readaptation to the natural environment.
Citizen Science
Citizen Science is the collective construction of knowledge. The development of new technologies has allowed in recent years that anyone can share information and records that help to generate scientific knowledge through participatory and open research projects.
The observations made and uploaded to the platforms by any user allow the collection of data on the biodiversity of a site, area or region.
From El Potrero Reserve we participate and collaborate in 2 of the largest citizen science projects on wildlife:
– ArgentiNat: a local citizen science platform associated with Inaturalist, promoted locally by Fundación Vida Silvestre Argentina with the support of the National Geographic Society, and aimed at promoting the culture of observation, registration and dissemination of biodiversity in our country.
Thus, species of native plants, insects, birds, mammals, reptiles and any other classification can be registered together with all the data provided by the observer to generate an active community, allowing their recognition and identification.
– eBird: is the world’s largest online community of birders. Its objective is to compile, archive and share information through the data uploaded by its users for science, conservation and education. At the same time, it develops tools to make birding a more rewarding activity.
