Urban Eco-Reserve

A road through Costanera Sur Ecological Reserve

View of Rio la Plata

Jake has been feeling under the weather the last couple days, so this morning I headed over to the Ecological Reserve Costanera Sur, within walking distance of our apartment.  This park lies on the eastern edge of the city along Rio de la Plata.  The area has an interesting history.  There had long been a grand avenue along the edge of the river where people would go to stroll and swim.  But as the waters became polluted fewer people visited and in 1978 a grand construction project began to fill in land along the river using construction debris.  It looks like a lot of raised roads were built, but that not all of the sections were filled in.  The project was abandoned by 1984 and marshes colonized the low areas and trees and shrubs colonized the edges of the roadways.  It was declared an ecological reserve in 1989 and is now thought to be a very important site for native flora and fauna.  You can walk through the marshes along the raised roads to the edge of the river.  On maps the marshes are labeled as open lagoons, but they have since filled in with vegetation and are drying out. The original riverfront avenue has been somewhat restored , but has a view of the marshes now.  It is a popular place to hang out in the evenings and on weekends and is lined with Choripan stands (like an American hot dog stand).  I got to mind a choripan stand this morning for a few minutes as the owner desperately needed to go to a restroom and flagged me down.  She gave me a bottle of water which was very much appreciated by the end of my walk!

There were plenty of both native and invasive plants along my walk this morning, see some photos below.  Invasive plants included Arundo donax, Morus alba, Fraxinus pensylvanica (yup!), Acacia melanoxylon and Ailanthus altissima.

Arundo donax - invasive

Bauhinia - native

Solanum shrub

Lantana camara  - native