Established on 15 April 1983,[1] it contains a mix of swamps, bogs, stagnant lakes, lagoons, natural sloughs and courses of water.

The reserve protects a portion of the Iberá Wetlands, a greater system of marshes of 1,500,000–2,000,000 ha (15,000–20,000 km2; 5,800–7,700 sq mi), and one of the most important fresh water reservoirs in the continent.

Managed fires have been used to encourage recovery of wild plants and animals, and interior fences were removed to allow wildlife to move freely.

[6] Throughout the area several permanent lagoons of different size can be distinguished; the largest of them are the eponymous Iberá and Luna, on which banks the village of Colonia Carlos Pellegrini was founded.

Few areas of dry land alternate with these water bodies, mostly low and sandy hills; the rest is covered by a large expanse of floodplains.

Spatial orientation becomes extremely difficult because the exact profile of the solid surface is constantly changing, and the visual continuity between the dry land and swamps is almost seamless due to the large number of semi-submerged vegetation.