Jaaukanigás.10/10/01; Santa Fe; 492,000 ha; 28°45'S 059°15'W. "Jaaukanigás" means "people of the water", a reference to one of the local populations who lived there in the middle of the 18th century. The Parana River is one of the largest and more diverse in the world, the second in South America after the Amazon. An extensive complex of rivers, lagoons, pools, permanent freshwater marshes and seasonally inundated grassland, interspersed with riparian woodland and gallery forest, makes this site one of paramount importance from the biodiversity and hydrological point of view in Argentina. The site provides habitat for a large number of species, some vulnerable or threatened with extinction, such as Lontra longicaudis, Tamandua tetradactyla, Chrysocyon brachyurus, Caiman yacare, C. latirostris, Eunectes notaeus, Tupinambis merianae, Boiruna maculata, and Hydrops triangularis. Ther is an important population of ducks, including Netta peposaca, Dendrocygna bicolor and D. viduata, and migratory birds such as Calidris melanotos, C. fuscicollis, C. bairdii, Tringa melanoleuca, T. flavipes, T. solitaria and Limosa haemastica are also found. There is a very rich aquatic life, with about 300 fish species, which are key for the regional economy, as 50% of the population in the area live by fishing. Sport fishing and ecotourism are important economic activities as well. Ramsar site no. 1112. Most recent RIS information: 2001.