Santa Rosa National Park ( es, Parque Nacional Santa Rosa), is a
national park, in
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 ...
, northwestern
Costa Rica, it was created in 1966 by decree 3694.
Geography
The main entrance of Santa Rosa National Park is north of
Liberia on
Route 1, in northern Guanacaste Province. The park covers an area of approximately .
It is part of the
Area de Conservación Guanacaste 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 ...
, originally created to protect the scene of the
Battle of Santa Rosa. It is also within the larger national
Guanacaste Conservation Area
Guanacaste Conservation Area is an administrative area which is managed by the Sistema Nacional de Areas de Conservacion (SINAC) of Costa Rica for conservation in the northwestern part of Costa Rica. It contains three national parks, as well as ...
.
The
Route 1 (North Interamerican Highway segment within Costa Rica of 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 ...
) is along its eastern edge, where the adjacent
Guanacaste National Park is located.
Route 913 is completely within the park.
History
Santa Rosa was originally a farm located in the north-western
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 ...
, in
Costa Rica. Today an old hacienda building, "La Casona," functions as the monument commemorating the fallen heroes of the different battles that took place here.
Battle of Santa Rosa
Primarily, Costa Rica remembers the
Battle of Santa Rosa won by their army over the forces of
filibuster William Walker. On March 20, 1856, when the Costa Rican forces reached this point, the filibusters were housed in the main farm building, La Casona. The ensuing battle lasted all of 14 minutes with the national militia victorious in ousting the invaders.
The farm however kept for years its strategic significance. This place was the location of two more battles of Costa Rican forces against invading forces from Nicaragua. In 1919, there was an attempt from the invaders to overthrow the dictatorship of General
Federico Tinoco Granados
General José Federico Alberto de Jesús Tinoco Granados (21 November 1868 – 7 September 1931) was a politician, soldier, and the Dictator of Costa Rica from 1917 to 1919.
Biography
Tinoco was born in 1868. On 5 June 1898 in San José, ...
; and in the 1955, Costa Ricans fought intruders supporting a coup attempt against the government of
José Figueres
José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ).
In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacul ...
.
Natural history
Santa Rosa National Park was also created to protect the natural environment beyond the historical site.
Flora
Ten unique natural
habitat
In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...
s
are within in the park. They include
savanna
A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland- grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...
s,
deciduous forest
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, ...
,
marshland
A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found at ...
s, and
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 ...
woodlands.
Areas of the
Isthmian–Pacific moist forests ecoregion, similar to the
Isthmian–Atlantic moist forests ecoregion and both of the
tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests
Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF), also known as tropical moist forest, is a subtropical and tropical forest habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature.
Description
TSMF is generally found in large, discon ...
biome
A biome () is a biogeographical unit consisting of a biological community that has formed in response to the physical environment in which they are found and a shared regional climate. Biomes may span more than one continent. Biome is a broader ...
; and
Moist Pacific Coast mangroves ecoregions similar to the
Mosquitia–Nicaraguan Caribbean Coast mangroves ecoregion and both of the
mangrove biome; and
Central American dry forests biome habitats — are protected here.
Fauna
Fauna includes
coyotes,
peccaries
A peccary (also javelina or skunk pig) is a medium-sized, pig-like hoofed mammal of the family Tayassuidae (New World pigs). They are found throughout Central and South America, Trinidad in the Caribbean, and in the southwestern area of North ...
,
white-nosed coati
The white-nosed coati (''Nasua narica''), also known as the coatimundi (), is a species of coati and a member of the family Procyonidae (raccoons and their relatives). Local Spanish names for the species include ''pizote'', ''antoon'', and ''te ...
s,
Baird's tapirs,
sea turtle
Sea turtles (superfamily Chelonioidea), sometimes called marine turtles, are reptiles of the order Testudines and of the suborder Cryptodira. The seven existing species of sea turtles are the flatback, green, hawksbill, leatherback, loggerhe ...
s, and terrestrial
turtle
Turtles are an order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked t ...
s. The three species of
monkey are
Geoffroy's spider monkey,
mantled howler
The mantled howler (''Alouatta palliata'') is a species of howler monkey, a type of New World monkey, from Central and South America. It is one of the monkey species most often seen and heard in the wild in Central America. It takes its "mantle ...
and
Panamanian white-faced capuchin
The Panamanian white-faced capuchin (''Cebus imitator''), also known as the Panamanian white-headed capuchin or Central American white-faced capuchin, is a medium-sized New World monkey of the family Cebidae, subfamily Cebinae. Native to the for ...
.
Several
cat
The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...
species are also present:
jaguarundi,
ocelot,
cougar and
jaguar. They are rarely seen.
Around 250 bird species and 115 mammal species are found within the park.
Ramsar sites
Two
Ramsar sites
A Ramsar site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention,8 ha (O)
*** Permanent 8 ha (P)
*** Seasonal Intermittent < 8 ha(Ts)
** Marshes on inorganic soils:
*** Permanent (herb dominated) (Tp)
*** P ...
are located within the park, Laguna Respringue and Manglar de Potrero Grande.
[
]
See also
*Guanacaste Conservation Area
Guanacaste Conservation Area is an administrative area which is managed by the Sistema Nacional de Areas de Conservacion (SINAC) of Costa Rica for conservation in the northwestern part of Costa Rica. It contains three national parks, as well as ...
* Area de Conservación Guanacaste World Heritage Site
References
External links
Santa Rosa National Park
at Costa Rica National Parks
at Costa Rica Bureau
from Moon Handbooks
{{authority control
National parks of Costa Rica
Ramsar sites in Costa Rica
Geography of Guanacaste Province
Protected areas established in 1966
Tourist attractions in Guanacaste Province
Central American dry forests