Guadeloupe National Park (french: Parc national de la Guadeloupe) is a national park in Guadeloupe, an overseas department of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

located in the Leeward Islands of the eastern Caribbean region. The Grand Cul-de-Sac Marin Nature Reserve (French: ''Réserve Naturelle du Grand Cul-de-Sac Marin'') is a

marine protected area Marine protected areas (MPA) are protected areas of seas, oceans, estuaries or in the US, the Great Lakes. These marine areas can come in many forms ranging from wildlife refuges to research facilities. MPAs restrict human activity for a conse ...

adjacent to the park and administered in conjunction with it. Together, these protected areas comprise the Guadeloupe Archipelago (French: ''l'Archipel de la Guadeloupe'')

biosphere reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

History

The

General Council General council may refer to: In education: * General Council (Scottish university), an advisory body to each of the ancient universities of Scotland * General Council of the University of St Andrews, the corporate body of all graduates and senio ...

of Guadeloupe created the Guadeloupe Natural Park in 1970 to recognise the exceptional

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...

of Basse-Terre's tropical forest and mountain massif. Although it was initially placed under the management of the

National Forests Office The National Forests Office (french: Office national des forêts), or ONF, is a Government of France agency that manages the state forests, city forests and biological reserves. ONF is based in Paris. The office is responsible for the sustaina ...

, proposals emerged in 1977 to establish a national park, in order to improve management and control of the park lands. These proposals came to fruition on 20 February 1989 with the official establishment of Guadeloupe National Park. The Grand Cul-de-Sac Marin Nature Reserve was established in 1987, and subsequently placed under the management of the park. In 1992, Guadeloupe National Park achieved international recognition when the core area of the park and the Grand Cul-de-Sac Marin Nature Reserve were designated as an international biosphere reserve by

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

. For most of its history, it was the only French national park outside of metropolitan France. However, it lost that distinction with the 2007 creation of

Réunion National Park Réunion National Park (french: Parc national de La Réunion) is a National Park of France located on the island of Réunion, an overseas department in the western Indian Ocean. Established on 5 March 2007, the park protects the endemic ecosys ...

( Réunion) and

Guiana Amazonian Park Guiana Amazonian Park (french: Parc amazonien de Guyane) is the largest national park of France, aiming at protecting part of the Amazonian forest located in French Guiana which covers 41% of the region. It is the largest park in France as wel ...

(

French Guiana French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic coast of South America in the Guianas. ...

Geography

The boundaries of the national park encompass a core area of , and a buffer zone of . The Grand Cul-de-Sac Marin Nature Reserve comprises marine, and terrestrial. The core area encompasses 10% of the total territory of Guadeloupe, two-thirds of Basse-Terre's

tropical forest Tropical forests (a.k.a. jungle) are forested landscapes in tropical regions: ''i.e.'' land areas approximately bounded by the tropic of Cancer and Capricorn, but possibly affected by other factors such as prevailing winds. Some tropical fore ...

, and covers a range of elevations from approximately to the summit of the mountain massif at . The highest point in the park is the summit of La Soufrière, an active

volcano A volcano is a rupture in the Crust (geology), crust of a Planet#Planetary-mass objects, planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and volcanic gas, gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Ear ...

. Other notable peaks include: Échelle (), Grand-Sans-Toucher (), and the twin side-by-side summits of the Mamelles (). The park comprises parts of 11

communes An intentional community is a voluntary residential community which is designed to have a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork from the start. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, relig ...

: *

Vieux-Habitants Vieux-Habitants ( French for ''Old Inhabitants'') is a commune on Guadeloupe, a French overseas department in the Caribbean. It is located on the southwest coast of the island of Basse-Terre. History This is the oldest parish, founded in 1636, ...

Bouillante Bouillante () is a ''commune'' in the French overseas region and department of Guadeloupe, in the Lesser Antilles. History Bouillante was founded about 1635 with the arrival of some of Guadeloupe's first colonists. It was originally named ''Isl ...

* Pointe-Noire *

Lamentin Lamentin ( Guadeloupean Creole: ) is a commune in the French overseas department and region of Guadeloupe. It is part of the agglomeration of Pointe-à-Pitre, in the north part of Basse-Terre. Three islets are included in the commune: Christop ...

Petit-Bourg Petit-Bourg ( gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Tibou, ) is the seventh-largest commune in the French overseas department of Guadeloupe. It is located on the east side of the island of Basse-Terre, and is part of the metropolitan area of Pointe-à-P ...

Goyave Goyave (, unlike ''goyave'' ; gcf, label= Guadeloupean Creole, Gwayav, italic=no) is a commune in the French overseas region and department of Guadeloupe, Lesser Antilles. It is part of the urban area of Pointe-à-Pitre, the largest metropol ...

Capesterre-Belle-Eau Capesterre-Belle-Eau is a commune in the French overseas region and department of Guadeloupe, in the Lesser Antilles. It is located in the south-east of Basse-Terre Island. Capesterre-Belle-Eau covers an area of 103.3 km2 (39.884 sq mi). Th ...

Trois-Rivières Trois-Rivières (, – 'Three Rivers') is a city in the Mauricie administrative region of Quebec, Canada, at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice and Saint Lawrence rivers, on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River across from the city of ...

Gourbeyre Gourbeyre is a commune in the French overseas region and department of Guadeloupe, in the Lesser Antilles. It is a suburb of the city of Basse-Terre. The commune of Gourbeyre was in the past a pivotal point in the defense of Guadeloupe's Bas ...

* Saint-Claude *

Baillif Baillif is a Communes of France, commune of Guadeloupe, an overseas region and Overseas department, department of France located in the Lesser Antilles. Baillif is a suburb of Basse-Terre, the Prefectures in France, prefecture and second-largest ...

Vegetation

Guadeloupe National Park may broadly be divided into three

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...

types:

Tropical rainforest

The park's

tropical rainforest Tropical rainforests are rainforests that occur in areas of tropical rainforest climate in which there is no dry season – all months have an average precipitation of at least 60 mm – and may also be referred to as ''lowland equa ...

varies in its character and species among several sub-ecosystems, depending heavily on elevation. * The lower elevations (up to ) of the park's buffer zone support a

mesophilic A mesophile is an organism that grows best in moderate temperature, neither too hot nor too cold, with an optimum growth range from . The optimum growth temperature for these organisms is 37°C. The term is mainly applied to microorganisms. Organi ...

forest, featuring trees such as white and red mahogany,

rosewood Rosewood refers to any of a number of richly hued timbers, often brownish with darker veining, but found in many different hues. True rosewoods All genuine rosewoods belong to the genus ''Dalbergia''. The pre-eminent rosewood appreciated ...

, and jatobá. This ecologic area is also used for

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people t ...

, including banana

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

s and other food crops. * A

montane Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial ...

moist forest covers 80% of the core area of the park, at elevations between and . This dense and luxuriant ecosystem harbors a great diversity of plant species: very large trees that grow above (

tabonuco ''Dacryodes excelsa'' is a tree native to Puerto Rico with a habitat that extends into the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean region. Its English vernacular names include gommier and candlewood. Its Spanish common name is ''tabonuco''. According ...

, acomat boucan, chestnut); mid-level trees between and ( bois bandé,

oleander ''Nerium oleander'' ( ), most commonly known as oleander or nerium, is a shrub or small tree cultivated worldwide in temperate and subtropical areas as an ornamental and landscaping plant. It is the only species currently classified in the ge ...

); shrubs and herbaceous plants below 10 m ( mountain palm,

heliconia ''Heliconia'', derived from the Greek word (), is a genus of flowering plants in the monotypic family Heliconiaceae. Most of the ca 194 known species are native to the tropical Americas, but a few are indigenous to certain islands of the we ...

fern A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes exce ...

s); and

epiphytic An epiphyte is an organism that grows on the surface of a plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphytes grow are called phoroph ...

species ( giant philodendron, aile-à-mouche,

orchids Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

). * The high-elevation forests above are much less dense than the park's other forests, due to the extremely wet conditions and constant cloud cover. These forests resemble

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland- grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

Coastal forest

Vegetation in the coastal zone faces the challenges of salinity in the air and soil, intense heat from the sun and its drying effect, and the constant wind. Notable plant species in this environment include seagrape and

pear Pears are fruits produced and consumed around the world, growing on a tree and harvested in the Northern Hemisphere in late summer into October. The pear tree and shrub are a species of genus ''Pyrus'' , in the family Rosaceae, bearing the po ...

Mangrove

The Grand Cul-de-Sac Marin Nature Reserve includes coastal

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The p ...

forests that are flooded either permanently or intermittently by fresh or salt water, comprising nearly half of Guadeloupe's

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in severa ...

swamps ( of ).

Wildlife

Due to intensive

hunting Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products ( fur/ hide, bone/tusks, horn/antler, ...

during an earlier period in Guadeloupe's history, animal life in the park is limited in diversity and in populations. Some species, including

parrot Parrots, also known as psittacines (), are birds of the roughly 398 species in 92 genera comprising the order Psittaciformes (), found mostly in tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three superfamilies: the Psittacoide ...

s and

parakeet A parakeet is any one of many small to medium-sized species of parrot, in multiple genera, that generally has long tail feathers. Etymology and naming The name ''parakeet'' is derived from the French wor''perroquet'' which is reflected in ...

s, have been eradicated altogether.

Mammals

The park has 17 mammalian species. The most commonly seen mammals in the park are the Guadeloupe raccoon,

bat Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera.''cheir'', "hand" and πτερόν''pteron'', "wing". With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most ...

s (two species of which are

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to Guadeloupe),

mongoose A mongoose is a small terrestrial carnivorous mammal belonging to the family Herpestidae. This family is currently split into two subfamilies, the Herpestinae and the Mungotinae. The Herpestinae comprises 23 living species that are native to so ...

s (introduced from

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

), and the endangered

agouti The agouti (, ) or common agouti is any of several rodent species of the genus ''Dasyprocta''. They are native to Middle America, northern and central South America, and the southern Lesser Antilles. Some species have also been introduced else ...

. Park authorities plan to reintroduce the

manatee Manatees (family Trichechidae, genus ''Trichechus'') are large, fully aquatic, mostly herbivorous marine mammals sometimes known as sea cows. There are three accepted living species of Trichechidae, representing three of the four living speci ...

, which has been extinct in Guadeloupe for a while. Manatee Looking at the Camera

Birds

The park's

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

s are more numerous than mammals, numbering 33 bird species, and the visitor may encounter hummingbirds,

frigatebird Frigatebirds are a family of seabirds called Fregatidae which are found across all tropical and subtropical oceans. The five extant species are classified in a single genus, ''Fregata''. All have predominantly black plumage, long, deeply forked ...

thrushes The thrushes are a passerine bird family, Turdidae, with a worldwide distribution. The family was once much larger before biologists reclassified the former subfamily Saxicolinae, which includes the chats and European robins, as Old World flyca ...

partridge A partridge is a medium-sized galliform bird in any of several genera, with a wide native distribution throughout parts of Europe, Asia and Africa. Several species have been introduced to the Americas. They are sometimes grouped in the Perd ...

pigeon Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...

tyrant flycatcher The tyrant flycatchers (Tyrannidae) are a family of passerine birds which occur throughout North and South America. They are considered the largest family of birds known to exist in the world, with more than 400 species. They are the most dive ...

s, pelicans, endemic

Guadeloupe woodpecker The Guadeloupe woodpecker (''Melanerpes herminieri'') or Tapeur is a species of bird in the woodpecker family Picidae belonging to the genus ''Melanerpes.'' Endemic to the Guadeloupe archipelago in the Lesser Antilles, it is a medium-sized fores ...

s, and others. Melanerpes herminieri 1849

Reptiles

* Some

sea turtle Sea turtles (superfamily Chelonioidea), sometimes called marine turtles, are reptiles of the order Testudines and of the suborder Cryptodira. The seven existing species of sea turtles are the flatback, green, hawksbill, leatherback, loggerhe ...

s are found.

Fish

* Various types of koi fish are visible in the area.

Crustaceans

* Aquatic and marine life includes big-claw river shrimp and crabs.

Insects

Insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three ...

s are indubitably the most plentiful creatures in the park, their exceptional diversity resulting in a number of surprising forms. Some attain great size, such as

Hercules beetle The Hercules beetle (''Dynastes hercules'') is a species of rhinoceros beetle native to the rainforests of Central America, South America, and the Lesser Antilles. It is the longest extant species of beetle in the world, and is also one of the ...

s, the duppy bats (black witch moths), and

walking sticks A walking stick or walking cane is a device used primarily to aid walking, provide postural stability or support, or assist in maintaining a good posture. Some designs also serve as a fashion accessory, or are used for self-defense. Walking sti ...

Tourist attractions

Among the interesting visitor sites in Guadeloupe National Park are: * La Soufrière * Carbet Falls * the two Mamelles and the Traversée road * Grand Cul-de-Sac Marin Nature Reserve * numerous hiking trails throughout the park

External links

*
Official site of Guadeloupe National Park
*
Official site of Grand Cul-de-Sac Marin Nature Reserve

UNEP-WCMC data sheet on the core area of the park

UNEP-WCMC data sheet on the buffer zone of the park

References

{{Authority control Protected areas of Guadeloupe Biosphere reserves of France Natural history of Guadeloupe Protected areas established in 1989 Tourist attractions in Guadeloupe 1989 establishments in France 1989 establishments in North America