Replica of the snare is a living lesson about trees:
Using an arapuca snare to awaken ecological awareness may sound like a paradox, but this is precisely the strategy adopted by one Argentine couple. Otto Waidelich and Irma Sommerfeld, both 45 years old, are the parents of La aripuca , a giant replica of the trap used and is used for environmental education classes, in Puerto Iguazú, which borders Foz do Iguassu.
The tourist attraction is a snare able to capture the attention of people towards preserving flora, truly a living lesson, where tourist learns about trees, their scientific names and origins. The couple provides the information on cards and educational material, seeking to stimulate love and respect for nature.
The attraction offers a collection of over 30 tree species from the northern portion of the province of Misiones, the state where Puerto Iguazú lies, the closest city on the Argentine side. The trees are from the so-called missions forest. The province is also home to the Argentine side of the Iguassu National Park.
The first thing that impresses you about La Aripuca (fowlers snare in Spanish) is its size. It was built according to an original model used to capture birds, and is 17 meters tall and 60 meters wide. It is so large that it can be seen from the “Rute Internacional” (International Highway), the road leading out from Puerto Iguazú.
You can sense the spirit of the piece right from the entrance. An ancient tree is used as a gateway to the tourist reception center. Its attraction lies in the five-meter diameter passage through the tree`s trunk. It has a telephone installed right in its core. According to Irma, the trunk of this specie always grows with dense wood and a hollow core.
Project - La Aripuca is fruit of the efforts of 20 years of work by the Argentine couple, concerned with altering people regarding the losses caused by cutting down native species and the importance of planting seedlings. The first part of the project was inaugurated in 1998 and was recently concluded with the establishment of a center for handicraft products made by Guarani indians.
Hundreds of trees were used to build the replica and to make it into its present shape; its weight is estimated at one ton. The timber was purchased for US$ 50,000 over five years, from farmers who had cut down their forested areas for agriculture. Some of the trees had fallen due to natural causes, such as storms. According to Irma, otherwise the trees might have simply been burned.
A better view may be obtained by going to Andresito, a community some 60 kilometers from Puerto Iguazú. There one may ride on horses through the forest, see the bird watching towers and the collection of yerba-mate tea, main economic activity of the Misiones region, savor regional cuisine and the famous caramelized water buffalo milk, as well as sponsor the planting of a native tree specie seedling.
