Palmar de las Islas y las Salinas de San José.17/09/01; Santa Cruz; 856,754 ha; 19°15'S 061°00'W. Includes National Park and Integrated Management Natural Area. A very large area of practically pristine saline and non-saline palm forests (Copernicia alba) and a system of small lagoons and channels supplying water to considerable numbers of animal species. As these are the only wetlands in a large area of dry forest, they provide essential support for many species during critical stages in their life cycles, as in the reproduction of several amphibian and reptile species. The water bodies also have great seasonal importance for larger mammals, such as peccary and tapir, which congregate around them during the dry season. The area has traditionally been used almost exclusively by the Ayoréode people, who practice a nomadic system of resource exploitation, with hunting, gathering, and subsistence agriculture. Parts of the site lie within a national park and an integrated management natural area of the Gran Chaco. Ramsar site no. 1088. Most recent RIS information: 2001.