Laguna Vilama and some neighbouring lakes have been classified as Ramsar sites in 2000. The environment around these lakes is called Desert Puna or Salt Puna and is uninhabited owing to its dry climate. Vegetation includes grasses in part associated with wetlands such as Festuca, Oxychloe andina, Parastrephia and Werneria pygmaea as well as Polylepis and Yareta. At Laguna Vilama and other lakes birds like Andean geese, Darwin's rhea, ducks and flamingos can be observed, mammals in the region include chinchillas, vicuñas and vizcachas.