Bofedales y Laguna de Salinas. 28/10/03. Arequipa. 17,657 ha. 16°22´S 71°08W. National Reserve. A salt high Andean lake in the Puna at 4,300m altitude, Laguna de Salinas lies at the bottom of an endorrheic basin with geothermal activities amidst snow-capped mountains and volcanoes. Open peat bogs known as bofedales surround the lake, providing an important grazing area for native camelids such as vicuñas and llamas as well as habitat for the endemic pupfish Orestias agassizii. Chilean (Phoenicopterus chilensis), James's (Phoenicoparrus jamesi), and the endangered Andean flamingoes (Phoenicoparrus andinus) inhabit the lake, reaching over 20,000 during the rainy season. Calidris spp sandpipers also winter in large numbers. Salt and borate mining is an important economic activity in the lake itself but also the main concern for the site due to the necessary soil removal of its operations. The impacts of overgrazing, the traditional activities of picking duck's eggs, and trout culture are being addressed through a Management Plan of the Salinas and Aguada Blanca National Reserve, to which the Ramsar site belongs. Ramsar Site No. 1317. Most recent RIS information: 2003.