Hada Irastorza is a cultural director from Corrientes who successfully connected her fine arts education with Ibera’s culture and nature. She was involved in forming the Iberá Cooks and Iberá Artisans, two networks of entrepreneurs who have joined this new nature-based economy by sharing the vernacular traditions with locals and visitors. Hada continues bringing her loving and profound insight about the wetlands from different places that revalue the strong bond between culture and nature in Corrientes.

Born in Mburucuya, Pascual Perez knew he wanted to work in the conservation of the Ibera wetlands since he was a kid. Park ranger, a fiend of horses, and a perfect model of Ibera’s culture, his prowess in fieldwork and expert use of the Guarani language won him a place among his peers. Along with his team, he goes across every corner of Ibera, which he knows profoundly, to keep it safe from threats and prepare it for the return of the jaguar—a living symbol of strength and tenacity, just like him.

Born in Corrientes, Dahiana Mansilla has lived in Iberá for many years with her husband and their son, deeply connected to nature. Working in the hotel business in remote places has allowed her to combine professional work, an outdoor lifestyle, and her Correntine essence. Today, she waits eagerly to show visitors Iberá Park’s main natural attraction: the jaguar.

Born in Concepción del Yaguareté Corá, a neighboring town of Iberá Park, Omar Rojas lived most of his life in the deep wetlands. With his wife Antonina, they raised their children deeply connected to Iberá’s nature. As a cattle rancher and a tourism entrepreneur, he has played a significant role in developing a local economy based on conservation and wildlife watching.

A cattle rancher passionate about wildlife, Marcos García Rams started to offer nature tourism activities in his magical and ancient jesuitic «estancia», San Juan Poriahu, in western Ibera. He’s the type of host who shares epic stories with his visitors, like that of the first free red-and-green macaws who flew from northern Ibera and visited his ranch. The work he carried out over the years only demonstrates how nature tourism and cattle ranching can coexist.

A Correntine by choice, Alejandra was born in Buenos Aires and lived in Spain before moving to her home near Iberá Park’s Portal Cambyreta. Working passionately to conserve Iberá, she fully dedicates her time to nature tourism based on wildlife watching —especially birds, which abound in Iberá in number and species diversity.

Born and raised in a hamlet on San Alonso Island, in the heart of Iberá, Ramón Correa is one of the last villagers from these wetlands. He has collaborated with the Iberá Project since the beginning by bringing in his profound knowledge of the place and helping to hunt live prey to feed the jaguars. Today, like his ancestors, he’s a neighbor of the great feline.

María Ángeles Silvero moved to Corrientes to train in tourism and never left. Originally from Chaco, she lives with her family in Iberá’s neighboring town, San Miguel, where they all participate in their food venture, Dulce Tentación (Sweet Temptation). Their homemade puddings prepared with local fruits, alfajores of guayaba, and bread stand out. María Ángeles and her son, who follows her steps, are part of the Cooks of Iberá network.

Carlín was born and raised in Mburucuyá, a neighboring town of Iberá and home of Corrientes’ first national park. When he was young, he worked in cattle-ranching farms. During those years, he learned about saddlery, an activity he continues to practice to stay connected with his roots. He joined Rewilding Argentina over five years ago as a monitoring volunteer. Afterward, he became the operations manager at San Alonso Island, where he has coexisted with wild jaguars since 2021.

Since her birth, Diana Frete has lived in Colonia Carlos Pellegrini, a town near Iberá Lagoon. Born in a family of singers, she is herself a songwriter and singer, tourism specialist, cultural agent, and vice-mayor of the town she knows as profoundly as the Iberá Wetlands, where she shares with visitors cultural moments, her love for the land, and her pride for local traditions. Diana gifted her unmistakable voice to the opening of this series, which, thanks to her genuine Correntino soul, takes us to Iberá’s deepest places.

Aníbal Parera was born in Buenos Aires. He spent his childhood in different provinces of Argentina until he made Corrientes his home in 1985, where he lives with his family. A biologist, writer, and photographer, he has conducted research and conservation projects on wild species and collaborated with many environmental organizations, companies, and governments in environmental assessments and fostering conservation in the private sector.

Born and raised in the province of Formosa, Valeria Molina has lived for a long time with her husband in his hometown, Loreto, in Corrientes. As a child, she spent lots of time in nature, listening to stories about the forest and its inhabitants from her grandfather, a Qom cacique. Valeria is a Cooks of Iberá network member, where her homemade alfajores, made up of local fruits, stand out. In her restaurant, Ñandegusto, she captivates visitors with the flavors and scents of her indigenous dishes.