Human activity has pushed Puma, El Rincon Stream Frog and others to breaking point. By supporting our Buy an Acre program, you can heal the damage done and give these species a new future!
In 1989, World Land Trust (WLT) pioneered a concept for fundraising to support land purchase, and more than 30 years on, the original Buy an Acre charity is proud to bring you the latest addition to our flagship programme: Somuncurá.
This plateau in Argentinian Patagonia is unique among our Buy an Acre projects, with its persecuted predators and proliferation of small, highly endemic species found nowhere else on Earth. You now have the chance to hand a vital lifeline to this fragile community and ensure the continued survival of these extraordinary animals.
Our new partner, Fundación Hábitat y Desarrollo (FH&D), plans to purchase 11,675 acres (4,725 ha) on the Somuncurá Plateau. The funds will not only facilitate the creation of a reserve – the first ever protected area on the Plateau – but also support three years of its management by FH&D.
Securing protection for Somuncurá – a predominately shrubland habitat intermixed with grassland, scrub, rocky outcrops and streams – is of urgent importance. Identified as a priority site by the Alliance for Zero Extinction, as well as a Key Biodiversity Area and Important Bird Area, this is a landscape with considerable conservation value. It’s under considerable threat.
The Valcheta Stream: Saving the watery home of Critically Endangered life
By supporting the Buy an Acre programme, you’ll be helping FH&D to enact conservation measures that will preserve the Plateau’s exceptional biodiversity. Alongside the terrestrial species, our partner’s proposed reserve harbours a number of endemic aquatic species that make their home in the Valcheta Stream.
Though temperatures on the Plateau can plummet below freezing, the consistently warm waters of the Valcheta – heated by hot springs at the stream’s headwaters – have enabled the evolution of highly specialised species here. These include the El Rincon Stream Frog (whose significance has been recognised by the EDGE of Existence programme) and the Naked Characin, a fish declared as a National Monument by provincial authorities.
Milestones
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Buy and Protect 100 Acres
CompletedWe will protect 100 acres of the Somuncura Plateau in Patagoniais classified as a priority site by the Alliance for Zero Extinction, home to two endemic freshwater snails (Pothamolithus valchetensis and Pothamolithus elenae).
Protected species with this milestone
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Buy and Protect 250 Acres
UpcomingWe will protect 250 acres of vital habitat for the culpeo (Lycalopex culpaeus).
Protected species with this milestone
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Buy and Protect 500 Acres
UpcomingWe will protect 500 acres of threatened grasslands, savannas, shrublands that are home to magnificent pumas (Puma concolor).
Protected species with this milestone
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Buy and Protect 1,000 Acres
UpcomingWe will be able to protect 1,000 acres of threatened habit, including important wetlands for the vulnerable Laguna Raymunda frog (Atelognathus reverberii).
Protected species with this milestone
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Buy and Protect 2,500 Acres
UpcomingWe will be able to protect 2,500 acres of habitat including a network of streams that are home to the critically endangered naked characin (Gymnocharacinus bergii).
Protected species with this milestone
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Naked characin
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Buy and Protect 5,000 Acres
UpcomingWe will be able to protect 5,000 acres of vitally important habitat for the critically endangered El Rincon stream frog (Pleurodema somuncurense).
Protected species with this milestone
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El Rincon stream frog
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