Isla Corazon is a naturally heart-shaped

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 ...

island, located on the Chone River estuary off the city of

Bahía de Caráquez Bahía de Caráquez, officially known as San Antonio de Caraquez and founded under the name of Villa de San Antonio de la Bahía de Caráquez or simply known today as Bahía, formerly called Bahía de los Caras during the period of the Spanish co ...

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

's coastal province of Manabi. The uninhabited island is a nesting site to one of the largest

frigate bird 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 ...

colonies in the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

, along with a host of other bird species. The island was expanded through the

mangrove restoration Mangrove restoration is the regeneration of mangrove forest ecosystems in areas where they have previously existed. The practice of mangrove restoration is grounded in the discipline of restoration ecology, which aims to “ ssistthe recovery of re ...

efforts of the local fishermen and was named a National Wildlife Refuge shortly thereafter. This group of fishermen started Isla Corazon Tours and now give canoe-led tours of the mangrove ecosystem, departing from Puerto Portovelo,Proyecto de Ecoturismo Comunitario en Ecuador
/ref> just up the road from San Vicente.

References

External links

Volunteer Work Isla CorazónIsla Corazón Travel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Isla Corazon Uninhabited islands of Ecuador Nature reserves in Ecuador Geography of Manabí Province Tourist attractions in Manabí Province