Jaragua National Park ( es, Parque Nacional Jaragua) is a

national park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

of the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

. Jaragua National Park is located in the

Pedernales Province Pedernales (; ) is the southernmost province of the Dominican Republic, including the offshore island of Isla Beata. It was split from Barahona in 1957. Of its 2,074.53 km2, 1374 km2 belong to the Jaragua National Park. A third of its ...

in the extreme southwest of the Dominican Republic. Jaragua National Park has a total area of 1374 km² (905 km² of which are marine), making it the largest

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

in the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

region.

Geography

Jaragua National Park was established by Presidential Decree No. 1315 on August 11, 1983, and was named after the

Taíno The Taíno were a historic Indigenous peoples of the Caribbean, indigenous people of the Caribbean whose culture has been continued today by Taíno descendant communities and Taíno revivalist communities. At the time of European contact in the ...

Chiefdom of Xaragua. The park is represented by the

Hispaniolan dry forests The Hispaniolan dry forests are a tropical dry broadleaf forest ecoregion on the island of Hispaniola (split between the Dominican Republic and Haiti). They cover , around 20% of the island's area. Geography The dry forests are found mostly on ...

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of l ...

. Spanning the southern slopes of the

Baoruco Mountain Range The Bahoruco Mountain Range—Sierra de Bahoruco (or Sierra de Bahoruco) is a mountain range located in the far southwestern region of the Dominican Republic. It is within Pedernales, Independencia, Barahona, and Bahoruco Provinces. A large par ...

from

Oviedo Oviedo (; ast, Uviéu ) is the capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain and the administrative and commercial centre of the region. It is also the name of the municipality that contains the city. Oviedo is located ap ...

to Cabo Rojo, Jaragua National Park includes

dry forest Dry or dryness most often refers to: * Lack of rainfall, which may refer to **Arid regions **Drought * Dry or dry area, relating to legal prohibition of selling, serving, or imbibing alcoholic beverages * Dry humor, deadpan * Dryness (medical) ...

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline water, 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 evoluti ...

s, and scrub, as well as land and marine habitats.

Beata Island Beata Island ( es, Isla Beata) is a small island on the Caribbean Sea, located southwest from Cape Beata. Some southwest of it lies the smaller Alto Velo Island. It is politically part of the Dominican Republic, and is roughly triangle-shaped a ...

(''Isla Beata''),

Alto Velo Island Alto Velo Island ( es, Isla Alto Velo; also called Alta Vela Island) is a small uninhabited island south of the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea. Its maximum height is about above sea level. It lies on an underwater mountain range which c ...

Bahia de las Aguilas Bahía de las Aguilas (literally "Eagles’ Bay"), is an long beach along the southwestern coast of the Dominican Republic in the province of Pedernales near the southernmost part of the border with Haiti. The bay is part of the Jaragua National ...

and Lago de Oviedo (noted for its diverse bird life) are part of the park. Among the variety of habitats found in Jaragua, numerous lagoons are located within its boundaries: Laguna Oviedo, Laguna Salada, Manuel Matos, La Rabiza, Puerto en Medio, Bucán Base, and Salado Bucán. It is the only protected area of the Paleoisla del Sur geoformation, and one of two land masses to for the island of La Hispaniola between 20,000 to 30,000 B.C.

References

Sources

*Cohen, Saul B. (ed). "Parque Nacional Jaragua." ''

Columbia Gazetteer of North America Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region ...

''. New York: Columbia, 2002

*"Jaragua National Park, Dominican Republic."

The Nature Conservancy The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. it works via affiliates or branches in 79 countries and territories, as well as across every state in the US. Founded in 1951, The Natu ...

*"Jaragua National Park."

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 ...

{{authority control Geography of Pedernales Province National parks of the Dominican Republic Protected areas established in 1983 Biosphere reserves of the Dominican Republic Biota of Hispaniola Tourist attractions in Pedernales Province 1983 establishments in the Dominican Republic