Morne Trois Pitons National Park 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 ...

Dominica Dominica ( or ; Kalinago: ; french: Dominique; Dominican Creole French: ), officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of the island. It is geographically ...

established in July 1975, the first to be legally established in the country. It became a

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 1997. The park is named after its highest mountain, Morne Trois Pitons, meaning mountain of three peaks. The park is an area of significant volcanic activity. Features within the park include the Valley of Desolation, a region of boiling mud ponds and small

geyser A geyser (, ) is a spring characterized by an intermittent discharge of water ejected turbulently and accompanied by steam. As a fairly rare phenomenon, the formation of geysers is due to particular hydrogeological conditions that exist only in ...

s; the

Boiling Lake The Boiling Lake is a flooded fumarole located in Morne Trois Pitons National Park, a World Heritage Site on the island of Dominica. The lake, located east of Dominica's capital Roseau, is filled with bubbling greyish-blue water that is usuall ...

; Titou Gorge; and Emerald Pool. The mountain is the second-highest peak in Dominica, being exceeded only by

Morne Diablotins Morne Diablotins is the highest mountain in Dominica, an island-nation in the Caribbean Lesser Antilles. It is the second highest mountain in the Lesser Antilles, after La Grande Soufrière in Guadeloupe. Morne Diablotins is located in the no ...

().

Background

The park was established in 1975 and was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. Its area is about , and it is dominated by the Morne Trois Pitons volcanoes (), from which it gets its name. The three major types of geological formations found in the park are

volcanic cone Volcanic cones are among the simplest volcanic landforms. They are built by ejecta from a volcanic vent, piling up around the vent in the shape of a cone with a central crater. Volcanic cones are of different types, depending upon the nature and ...

s, glacis slopes, and soufrières (sulphur deposits). The landscape consists of steep-sided volcanic hills separated by deep canyons. All the major waterways of the southern half of the island emanate from here, and there are spectacular

waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in several wa ...

s, creeks, rivers, pools, and natural lakes. Ongoing volcanic activity is demonstrated by the

fumarole A fumarole (or fumerole) is a vent in the surface of the Earth or other rocky planet from which hot volcanic gases and vapors are emitted, without any accompanying liquids or solids. Fumaroles are characteristic of the late stages of volcani ...

s and hot springs,

mud pool A mudpot, or mud pool, is a sort of acidic hot spring, or fumarole, with limited water. It usually takes the form of a pool of bubbling mud. The acid and microorganisms decompose surrounding rock into clay and mud. Description The mud of a mud ...

s, and streams of various colours. The

is a water-filled fumarole with a temperature of near the edge and a hotter centre, where boiling water churns up from the depths. The park is managed by the Division of Forestry, Wildlife and National Parks, under the auspices of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. The steep and rugged terrain has discouraged development, and there are no human settlements within the park. However, there is a small quarry and some limited farming in the southern portion; the government's electric utility company has certain rights, but these are being used for

hydropower Hydropower (from el, ὕδωρ, "water"), also known as water power, is the use of falling or fast-running water to Electricity generation, produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by energy transformation, converting the Pot ...

and the extraction of

geothermal energy Geothermal energy is the thermal energy in the Earth's crust which originates from the formation of the planet and from radioactive decay of materials in currently uncertain but possibly roughly equal proportions. The high temperature and pres ...

. There is some risk to wildlife from the incursion of feral cats, pigs, and rats, and there is a risk from invasive alien species. The island is occasionally devastated by

hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

s, with serious damage being done to the park by

Hurricane David Hurricane David was an extremely deadly hurricane which caused massive loss of life in the Dominican Republic in August 1979, and was the most intense hurricane to make landfall in the country in recorded history. A Cape Verde hurricane that rea ...

(1979) and

Hurricane Allen Hurricane Allen was a rare and extremely powerful Cape Verde hurricane that affected the Caribbean, eastern and northern Mexico, and southern Texas in August 1980. The first named storm and second tropical cyclone of the 1980 Atlantic hurricane ...

(1980). A proposal to encourage tourism by the construction of a cable car overhead was defeated, but a fine balance needs to be struck between human aspirations and the maintenance of

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 the unique landscape.

Flora

Most of the area of the park retains its natural habitat and there are a number of different vegetation zones,

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 equatori ...

secondary forest A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has re-grown after a timber harvest or clearing for agriculture, until a long enough period has passed so that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident. ...

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

forest,

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

, and

dwarf forest Dwarf forest, elfin forest, or pygmy forest is an uncommon ecosystem featuring miniature trees, inhabited by small species of fauna such as rodents and lizards. They are usually located at high elevations, under conditions of sufficient air humi ...

. The large trees in the rainforest tower up to and have large buttress roots. The dominant tree is ''

Amanoa caribaea :''See also Queen Amanoa, a fictional character from the ''Star Wars'' expanded universe.'' ''Amanoa'' is a genus from the family Phyllanthaceae first described as a genus in 1775. It is native to South America, Central America, the West Indies ...

'', but '' Sloanea dengata'', ''

Sloanea caribaea ''Sloanea caribaea'', commonly known as acomat boucan, is a tree of the eastern Caribbean region. References ''Sloanea caribaea''
at Oxford University's Virtual Field Herbarium. Sloanea, caribaea Trees of the Caribbean Flora without expect ...

'', and ''

Sloanea berteroana ''Sloanea berteroana'' is a tree of the Caribbean region. The name is often misspelled as ''Sloanea berteriana''.See, for example"Puerto Rico Statewide Assessment and Strategies for Forest Resources." Government of Puerto Rico. Department of Nat ...

'' are also plentiful; ''

Symphonia globulifera ''Symphonia globulifera'', commonly known as boarwood, is a timber tree abundant in Central America, the Caribbean, South America and Africa. This plant is also used as a medicinal plant and ornamental plant. Common names Common trade names of t ...

'' and ''

Cecropia peltata ''Cecropia peltata'' is a fast-growing tree in the genus ''Cecropia''. Common names include trumpet tree, trumpet-bush, bacano and snakewood. It is listed as one of the world's 100 worst invasive alien species. Description ''Cecropia peltata'' ...

'' have both massive buttresses and

prop root Buttress roots also known as plank roots are large, wide roots on all sides of a shallowly rooted tree. Typically, they are found in nutrient-poor tropical forest soils that may not be very deep. They prevent the tree from falling over (hence t ...

s. The trees are interspersed with

tree fern The tree ferns are arborescent (tree-like) ferns that grow with a trunk elevating the fronds above ground level, making them trees. Many extant tree ferns are members of the order Cyatheales, to which belong the families Cyatheaceae (scaly tree ...

s and are swathed in

epiphyte 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 ...

s including

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 ...

and

bromeliads The Bromeliaceae (the bromeliads) are a family of monocot flowering plants of about 80 genera and 3700 known species, native mainly to the tropical Americas, with several species found in the American subtropics and one in tropical west Africa, ...

. At higher altitudes, the trees become smaller, and there are mountain palms,

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 except t ...

s, and

hibiscus ''Hibiscus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the mallow family, Malvaceae. The genus is quite large, comprising several hundred species that are native to warm temperate, subtropical and tropical regions throughout the world. Member species ...

, while near the summits there is dwarf forest with low, branching shrubs, mosses, and lichens. In the Valley of Desolation, the sulphurous gases limits the vegetation, and there are '' Clusia mangle'', grasses, and bromeliads.

Fauna

Mammals found in the park include

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 ...

s, wild pigs,

common opossum The common opossum (''Didelphis marsupialis''), also called the southern or black-eared opossum or gambá, and sometimes called a possum, is a marsupial species living from the northeast of Mexico to Bolivia (reaching the coast of the South Pac ...

s, numerous small

rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are na ...

s, and

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. There are large numbers of birds in the forest, but they are often heard rather than seen. There are four species of

hummingbird Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and comprise the biological family Trochilidae. With about 361 species and 113 genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but the vast majority of the species are found in the tropics aro ...

, the rufous-throated solitaire, and two

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 elsew ...

parrots, the

imperial amazon The imperial amazon (''Amazona imperialis'') or Dominican amazon, also known as the sisserou, is a parrot found only on the Caribbean island of Dominica. It has been designated as the national bird of Dominica. The species is critically endange ...

, and the

red-necked amazon The red-necked amazon (''Amazona arausiaca''), also known as the red-necked parrot, Dominican blue-faced amazon, lesser Dominican amazon, and Jaco parrot, is an amazon parrot endemic to Dominica. It is green, with bright splashes of various co ...

. The endemic Dominican anole '' Anolis oculatus'' can be found here as well as numerous species of

tree frog A tree frog (or treefrog) is any species of frog that spends a major portion of its lifespan in trees, known as an arboreal state. Several lineages of frogs among the Neobatrachia have given rise to treefrogs, although they are not closely rela ...

. Emerald Pool Dominica.JPG, Emerald Pool and Waterfall Middleham Falls at Morne Trois Pitons National Park.jpg, Middleham Falls File:Morne Trois Pitons National Park, Dominica - jungle.jpg, Dominican Jungle File:Freshwater lake at Morne Trois Pitons National Park.jpg, Freshwater Lake

References

External links

Virtual Dominica.comMorne Trois Pitons National Park - UNESCO World Heritage CentreFriends of World Heritage
Non profit organization that identifies projects that support local tourism enterprises that can help alleviate poverty and conserve World Heritage sites. * {{authority control National parks of Dominica World Heritage Sites in Dominica Protected areas established in 1975