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Los Katíos National Natural Park ( es, Parque Nacional Natural (PNN) Los Katíos) is a protected area located in northwest
Colombia which covers about . The elevation ranges between . It is a part of the
Darién Gap
The Darién Gap (, , es, Tapón del Darién , ) is a geographic region between the North and South American continents within Central America, consisting of a large watershed, forest, and mountains in Panama's Darién Province and the norther ...
, a densely forested area shared by
Panama
Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...
and Colombia, and is contiguous with the
Darién National Park
Darién National Park ( es, Parque Nacional Darién) is a World Heritage Site in Panama. It is about 325 kilometers from Panama City, and is the most extensive of all national parks of Panama and is one of the most important world heritage sites ...
in Panama. The
Pan-American Highway
The Pan-American Highway (french: (Auto)route panaméricaine/transaméricaine; pt, Rodovia/Auto-estrada Pan-americana; es, Autopista/Carretera/Ruta Panamericana) is a network of roads stretching across the Americas and measuring about in to ...
, when completed as proposed, would pass near or through Los Katíos. The park was declared a
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 ...
World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
in 1994 due to the extraordinary diversity of plant and animal species represented.
The topography of the Los Katios National Park is diverse, with low hills, forests and wet plains comprising its total area.
The two largest parts of the park are the
Serranía del Darién
The Serranía del Darién is a small mountain range on the border between Colombia and Panamá in the area called the Darién Gap. It is located in the southeastern part of the Darién Province of Panamá and the northwestern part of the Chocó ...
mountains, which lie to the west, and the
Atrato River
The Atrato River () is a river of northwestern Colombia. It rises in the slopes of the Western Cordillera and flows almost due north to the Gulf of Urabá (or Gulf of Darién), where it forms a large, swampy delta. Its course crosses the ...
floodplains in the east. The floodplains hold exceptionally fertile soil and consist of alluvial plains of two types. One consists of low-lying terraces that flood often and the other has high terraces that seldom flood. There are also low hills of up to in elevation and others that are high. Swampy marshes spread for nearly half of the park's total area. The wetlands of the Atrato floodplain are unique.
Cativo, one of the indigenous species, can grow to a height of . It lends its name to a formation called 'catival' and is found nowhere in the world except Colombia, south Central America and
Jamaica
Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
.
Significance
Los Katíos National Park has exceptionally high
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 ...
and (along with the adjacent Darien National Park in Panama), is a center of
endemism
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 ...
, with many species that are restricted to the region. The park is home to at least 450 species of birds.
In fact, over 25% of the bird species reported for Colombia in an area less than 1% of the total Colombian territory.
Almost 20% of the plant species in the park are endemic to the
Chocó-Darién moist forests.
Due to its geographical location in northern Colombia on the southern edge of the Central American land bridge, this region served as a filter for the exchange of animal species between North and South America in the
Tertiary
Tertiary ( ) is a widely used but obsolete term for the geologic period from 66 million to 2.6 million years ago.
The period began with the demise of the non-avian dinosaurs in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, at the start ...
and
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was finally confirmed in ...
periods. This process continues today, and Los Katíos is the only region in South America where many Central American taxa are common, including
yew species, the
Giant anteater
The giant anteater (''Myrmecophaga tridactyla'') is an insectivorous mammal native to Central and South America. It is one of four living species of anteaters, of which it is the largest member. The only extant member of the genus ''Myrmecophag ...
, and the
Central American tapir
The Baird's tapir (''Tapirus bairdii''), also known as the Central American tapir, is a species of tapir native to Mexico, Central America, and northwestern South America. It is the largest of the three species of tapir native to the Americas, as ...
.
The park also protects important landscape features such as the 25 m high Tendal waterfall, the 100 m high Tilupo waterfall and the Tumaradó swamps.
In 1990, the park was made accessible by paths and accommodation for small groups of visitors, who have access to the national park through the park administration in
Sautatá.
History
The region was originally inhabited by the
Guna, an
indigenous group
Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...
who, after internal fighting, had to surrender the Choc region to the Katío-Embera and emigrated to Panama. The Darién region, to which Los Katíos belongs, was historically important for the first settlers who used the land bridge from North to South America some 20,000 years ago. In the post-Columbian period, the Spanish
conquistadors
Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (, ; meaning 'conquerors') were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, ...
Rodrigo de Bastidas
Rodrigo de Bastidas (; Triana, Seville, Andalusia, c. 1465 – Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, 28 July 1527) was a Spanish conquistador and explorer who mapped the northern coast of South America, discovered Panama, and founded the city of Santa Marta.
...
,
Alonso de Ojeda
Alonso de Ojeda (; c. 1466 – c. 1515) was a Spanish explorer, governor and conquistador. He travelled through modern-day Guyana, Venezuela, Trinidad, Tobago, Curaçao, Aruba and Colombia. He navigated with Amerigo Vespucci who is famou ...
and
Vasco Núñez de Balboa
Vasco Núñez de Balboa (; c. 1475around January 12–21, 1519) was a Spanish explorer, governor, and conquistador. He is best known for having crossed the Isthmus of Panama to the Pacific Ocean in 1513, becoming the first European to lead an ...
were the first to discover this region in 1501.
In more recent times, about one percent of the park in the Sautatá area was agriculturally developed and used primarily for the cultivation of sugar cane. After the park was established in 1974, over the next seven years the 150 or so local families were relocated to the nearby towns of Unguía, Puente América, Tumaradó and Cacarica.
The park was placed on the
List of World Heritage in Danger
The List of World Heritage in Danger is compiled by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) through the World Heritage Committee according to Article 11.4 of the World Heritage Convention,Full title: ''Conv ...
in 2009 at the request of the Colombian government to handle threats to its protection, notably deforestation, unauthorized settlements,
illegal fishing
Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU) is an issue around the world. Fishing industry observers believe IUU occurs in most fisheries, and accounts for up to 30% of total catches in some important fisheries.
Illegal fishing takes ...
and hunting.
In 2015, the park was removed from the List of World Heritage in Danger due to significant improvements in the management of the park and of steps taken by the national authorities to reduce illegal extraction of timber and overfishing.
References
External links
Park's website (spanish)
UNESCOOAS.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Los Katios National Park
National parks of Colombia
World Heritage Sites in Colombia
Geography of Chocó Department
Geography of Antioquia Department
Tourist attractions in Chocó Department
Tourist attractions in Antioquia Department
National Monuments of Colombia
World Heritage Sites in Danger
Protected areas established in 1974