Captivated by the raw beauty of nature

Long history

One often overlooked feature of Iguazu is its history, which goes back many millennia.

More than 10,000 years ago, the hunter-gatherers of the Eldoradense culture lived in the area. They were displaced around the year 1000 by the Guarani, who brought new agricultural technologies. The Guarani themselves were displaced by the Spanish and Portuguese conquistadors in the 16th century.

The Spanish explorer Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca named the falls Saltos de Santa Maria in 1541. Later, Jesuit missions followed. A Brazilian army officer, Edmundo de Barros, suggested the creation of a national park near the falls in 1897.

The horseshoe-shaped falls create a natural border between Brazil and Argentina. Once the boundaries of the countries were defined, two separate national parks were established, Iguazu National Park in Argentina and Iguacu National Park in Brazil's Parana state.

The falls are also important as a source of power, with the huge Itaipu Hydroelectric Plant jointly built by Paraguay and Brazil and completed in 1991. The dam is one of the largest in the world, providing nearly 15 percent of Brazil's electricity and 90 percent of Paraguay's.

In 2011, the Iguazu National Park and Iguazu Falls were chosen as one of the "Seven Natural Wonders of the World".

The Iguazu Park, which covers more than 67,620 hectares, has a team of protectors who guard the local environment and biodiversity.

Starting in 1996, Iguazu Argentina supervises the infrastructure that makes visiting the falls possible. The entity oversees and maintains water sewers, walkways, walks and trails, an ecological train, and an underground electrical system to help preserve plant and animal species in the park.

The writer is a freelance journalist for China Daily.