The Senate in the northern Argentine province of Salta has approved a law to create a national reserve in a provincial protected area — whose protection was removed in 2004. But after environmentalists and residents protested, the National Parks Administration pledged to add the area to the national park system, and the agreement was endorsed by a law that ceded management of the reserve.

Ulises Martínez, of the Argentine Wildlife Foundation, told Tierramérica that the reserve “will protect a key area for the transition between the forests of Chaco Salteño and Yungas, where deforestation has been concentrated.”

The connection of the two eco-regions is essential for the survival of species like the anteater and peccary.