Somoto Canyon National Monument (
Spanish: Monumento Nacional Cañón de Somoto) is a
canyon
A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tenden ...
located in the
Madriz Department of
Nicaragua. The Somoto Canyon National Monument protected area covers an area of approximately ,
of which are in the actual zone of the canyon.
The confluence of the Tapacalí and Comali Rivers at the head of the canyon form the
Coco River, which flows through the canyon and onward to the
Caribbean Sea.
The Somoto Canyon was declared a
national monument
A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure.
The term may also refer to a spec ...
on November 29, 2006. The Somoto Canyon National Monument comprises one of 78
protected areas of Nicaragua and is managed by
Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources
The Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (MARENA), is in charge of environmental protection and of the study, planning, and management of the Nicaragua's natural resources. It was formerly known as the Nicaraguan Institute of Natural R ...
(MARENA).
History
The Somoto Canyon had not been explored systematically until a group of scientists from the
Czech Republic and Nicaragua (INETER) "discovered" the canyon in 2004.
The canyon is believed to have formed 5 to 13 million years ago during the
Miocene period
The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...
.
After its discovery in 2004, the Somoto Canyon has been developing into a tourist attraction, further helping the growth of
tourism in Nicaragua.
However, this has also had a negative effect with incidents such as
graffiti being written on the walls of the Canyon since its discovery.
MARENA
Marena ( mk, Марена) is a village in the municipality of Kavadarci, North Macedonia.
Demographics
According to the statistics of Bulgarian ethnographer Vasil Kanchov from 1900, 576 inhabitants lived in Marena, 300 Muslim Bulgarians, 270 ...
and INETER send technicians to clean and repair the
vandalism.
See also
*
Somoto
*
Tourism in Nicaragua
References
External links
Cañón de Somoto
{{Authority control
Protected areas of Nicaragua
Landforms of Nicaragua
Madriz Department
Canyons and gorges of North America
Central American pine–oak forests