The first steps towards the establishment of a Reserve surrounding the El Rey National Park started in 1995, conceived as an extensive buffer zone made up of private lands in a very good state of conservation.

The great majority of local landowners considered interesting and positive this project, particularly about tourist promotion of the area. They actively got involved in courses and training workshops as well as in the identification of suitable proposals. Also, some of them obtained small subsides as partial economic help for adapting rooms in their ranches in order to catering for prospective visitors.

The Reserve Project aims to:

1. Substantially enlarge the area protected by El Rey Nat. Park by incorporating surrounding private lands for sustainable use and conservation practices, thus preserving valuable patches of Transitional Forest and increasing chances of survival for many species such as the Tapir, the White-lipped Peccary, several tinamous, the Greater Rhea, wildfowl in general and birds of prey.


2. Guarantee the supply in the long term of environmental services such as water and carbon-fixing.

3. Promote low-impact productive activities with an increasing market in the country such as the Nature based Tourism.

The system integrated by El Rey Reserve and the National Park is also part of an even more ambitious and wider strategy for regional conservation and sustainable use: the Binational Corridor of the Andean Yungas.