Caribbean Islands National Wildlife Complex is an administrative unit of the

United States Fish and Wildlife Service The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats. The mission of the agency is "working with othe ...

which oversees National Wildlife Refuges in

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and

Navassa Island Navassa Island (; ht, Lanavaz; french: l'île de la Navasse, sometimes ) is a small uninhabited island in the Caribbean Sea. Located northeast of Jamaica, south of Cuba, and west of Jérémie on the Tiburon Peninsula of Haiti, it is subject ...

of the U.S. Minor Outlying Islands. The NWR complex also manages the reintroduction of the critically endangered

Puerto Rican parrot The Puerto Rican amazon (''Amazona vittata''), also known as the Puerto Rican parrot (Puerto Rican Spanish: ''cotorra puertorriqueña'') or ''iguaca'', is the only extant parrot endemic to the archipelago of Puerto Rico, and belongs to the Neo ...

into the wild.

Components

Puerto Rico

Cabo Rojo National Wildlife Refuge Cabo Rojo National Wildlife Refuge (Spanish: ''Refugio Nacional de Vida Silvestre de Cabo Rojo'') is an 1,836-acre National Wildlife Refuge located in southwestern Puerto Rico, in the municipality of Cabo Rojo. The refuge is a habitat for num ...

* Culebra National Wildlife Refuge * Desecheo National Wildlife Refuge *

Laguna Cartagena National Wildlife Refuge The Laguna Cartagena National Wildlife Refuge (Spanish: ''Refugio de Vida Silvestre de Laguna Cartagena'') is a 1043-acre National Wildlife Refuge in Lajas, Puerto Rico. It is part of the Caribbean Islands National Wildlife Refuge Complex. The ...

Vieques National Wildlife Refuge The Vieques National Wildlife Refuge (Spanish: ''Refugio nacional de vida silvestre de Vieques'') is a National Wildlife Refuge on the island of Vieques in the Puerto Rico archipelago. It is part of the Caribbean Islands National Wildlife Refug ...

U.S. Minor Outlying Islands

Navassa Island National Wildlife Refuge Navassa Island (; ht, Lanavaz; french: l'île de la Navasse, sometimes ) is a small uninhabited island in the Caribbean Sea. Located northeast of Jamaica, south of Cuba, and west of Jérémie on the Tiburon Peninsula of Haiti, it is subject t ...

U.S. Virgin Islands

Buck Island National Wildlife Refuge Buck Island National Wildlife Refuge is located about 2 miles (4 km) south of the island of St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands of the United States. Adjacent to the refuge is Capella Island, about half the size of Buck, owned by the territor ...

Green Cay National Wildlife Refuge Green Cay National Wildlife Refuge, encompasses the 6 ha (14 acre) island of Green Cay lying midway between the town of Christiansted and Buck Island Reef National Monument, just north of Saint Croix in the United States Virgin Islan ...

Sandy Point National Wildlife Refuge Sandy Point National Wildlife Refuge preserves habitat for threatened and endangered species, with particular emphasis on the leatherback sea turtle (''Dermochelys coriacea''). Its two miles (3 km) of sandy beaches on the southwest corner of ...

Caribbean Ecological Services Field Office

The Caribbean Ecological Services Field Office was established in 1974 as part of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Southeast Region (Region 4). This organization within the Caribbean Islands National Wildlife Refuge Complex has jurisdiction over Federal Trust Species (federally listed endangered species, including migratory birds and inter-jurisdictional fish populations) and Strategic Habitat Conservation programs. The field office is based in

Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico Cabo Rojo (, ) is a city and municipality situated on the southwest coast of Puerto Rico and forms part of the San Germán–Cabo Rojo metropolitan area as well as the larger Mayagüez–San Germán–Cabo Rojo Combined Statistical Area. Hist ...

, and although the office is not open to the general public it also hosts the Cabo Rojo National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center.

Gallery

File:Buck Island, BVI.JPG, alt=, Buck Island NWR. File:Antillean Nighthawk (Chordeiles gundlachii); with distinctive white patch, resting in Cabo Rojo National Wildlife Refuge, Puerto Rico.JPG, alt=, Antillean nighthawk ('' Chordeiles gundlachii''), Cabo Rojo NWR. File:Fish in corals, Culebra Puerto Rico.jpg, alt=, Coral reef and trunkfish. Culebra NWR. File:St. Croix Ground Lizard on Green Cay.jpg, alt=, Ground lizard. Green Cay NWR. File:Caribbean coot.jpg, alt=, American coot ('' Fulica americana''). Laguna Cartagena NWR. File:NavassaEastCoastAerialUSGS.jpg, alt=, Aerial view. Navassa Island NWR. File:Dermochelys coriacea (beach).jpg, alt=, Leatherback sea turtle. Sandy Point NWR. File:Sub-tropical dry forest vieques.jpg, alt=, Sub-tropical dry forest. Vieques NWR.

References

External links

Caribbean Islands National Wildlife Complex official website
{{Authority control Protected areas established in 1974