Barbudal Hillocks Biological Reserve ( es, Reserva Biológica Lomas Barbudal) is a

nature 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 ...

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

, part of the

Arenal Tempisque Conservation Area Arenal Tempisque Conservation Area ( es, Área de Conservación Arenal Tempisque (ACAT)), is an administrative area which is managed by SINAC for the purposes of conservation in the northwest part of Costa Rica, near the Arenal Volcano and coveri ...

, that covers an area of in the

Guanacaste Province Guanacaste () is a province of Costa Rica located in the northwestern region of the country, along the coast of the Pacific Ocean. It is bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Alajuela Province to the east, and Puntarenas Province to the southeast. I ...

, 15 kilometers southwest of

Bagaces Bagaces is a district of the Bagaces canton, in the Guanacaste province of Costa Rica. Geography Bagaces has an area of km² and an elevation of metres. Communities The district includes the towns of Bagaces, Pijije, Montenegro, Montano, and ...

. The Barbudal hillocks are an ignimbritic plateaux which end in rocky cliffs that rise to 125 metres above the

Tempisque River The Tempisque River, or Río Tempisque, is long, located entirely in Costa Rica flowing from the Guanacaste Cordillera near the Orosí Volcano and emptying into the Gulf of Nicoya. It passes through the Palo Verde National Park and is an impor ...

. Many endangered deciduous trees such as ron-ron (''Astronium graveolens''),

pochote ''Pachira quinata'', commonly known as pochote, is a species of flowering tree in the mallow family, Malvaceae. It inhabits dry forests in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras Panama, Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Rep ...

(''Bombacopsis quinata'') and

cocobolo Cocobolo is a tropical hardwood of Central American trees belonging to the genus ''Dalbergia''. Only the heartwood of cocobolo is used; it is usually orange or reddish-brown, often with darker irregular traces weaving through the wood. The heartw ...

are found in the reserve, as well as over 250 different species of bees - comprising almost 25% of the world's bee species. The reserve is the site of a small museum called Casa Patrimonio, which has details of the fauna and flora of the reserve. Barbudal hillocks are home to several groups of white-faced capuchin monkeys which, since 1990, have been the subject of the

Lomas Barbudal Capuchin Monkey Project The Lomas Barbudal Capuchin Monkey Project is an ongoing field research project founded in 1990 by primatologist Susan E. Perry of UCLA. The project is dedicated to the study of the ecology, foraging behavior, and social behavior of the white-fac ...

, an ongoing research project by primatologist Susan Perry of

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

. As of January 2010 Mr. Manrique Montes Obando is the administrator of the reserve.

References

External links

Lomas de Barbudal Biological Reserve
at Costa Rica National Parks
Lomas Barbudal Monkey Project
at UCLA Nature reserves in Costa Rica Museums in Costa Rica Geography of Guanacaste Province Tourist attractions in Guanacaste Province 1986 establishments in Costa Rica Protected areas established in 1986 {{CostaRica-protected-area-stub