The Iguaçu National Park was, in 1986, declared a world inheritance site by Unesco. Established in 1939, thanks to the intervention of the aviator Santos Dumont, today it covers 185 thousand hectares including parts of Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay.

The park is one of the few ecosystems where some plant and animal species threatened with extinction can still be found. For this reason it is of inestimable value as a bank of genetic material for future reforestation.

But the true spectacle in this park is the waterfalls. Semi-circular, the group of cataracts is 4.800 meters wide and the whole is made up of some 275 falls. The average height of the falls is 65 meters, but the Garganta do Diabo (Devil's Throat), one of the most beautiful, reaches 90 meters when the water is low. The cataracts are formed by the river Iguaçu which crosses a drop in the land 15 kilometers before reaching the river Paraná.

Seen from the Brazilian side, they provide a dreamlike spectacle, but to really appreciate them a visit from the Argentine side allows one to almost walk over the falls.

Poema do Brasil 2002