Lauca

Declared in 1970 on the Bolivian border, it protects an Andean altiplano averaging over 4,500 metres, dominated by volcanoes such as Parinacota and by Lake Chungará, one of the highest navigable lakes in the world. It has been a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve since 1981 and was central to the recovery of the vicuña, a wild camelid related to the llama that was brought to the brink of extinction in Chile by hunting for its fleece — one of the finest and most valuable in the world — until strict protection let its numbers multiply markedly over recent decades.