Argentina - La Payunia, Campos Volcánicos Llancanelo y Payún Matrú

The proposed site includes two protected areas: the Provincial Reserves Llancanelo Lake and Payunia The first has 90,000 ha. of protected reserve, of which 65,000 ha., have been declared a Ramsar site in 1996. It is one of the few areas in the country with a participatory management plan, developed jointly with the residents, and is unique in the world with volumetric limits (600 m high and 600 meters deep), and so the conservation takes into account both, the air and its underground water reservoirs. The reserve occupies a large depression (endorheic basin) modeled by volcanic processes and is fed by groundwater seepage (Menuco, Cari-lauquen, Carapacho) and surface contributions coming from the Andes (Malargüe River). Its size varies according to season but generally the lagoon is 50 km long from north to south and about 10-12 km wide east-west with a depth less than the meter.