Parque Internacional la Amistad
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The La Amistad International Park, or in Spanish , formerly the La Amistad National Park, is a
Transboundary Protected Area A transboundary protected area (TBPA) is an ecological protected area that spans boundaries of more than one country or sub-national entity. Such areas are also known as transfrontier conservation areas (TFCAs) or peace parks. TBPAs exist in many ...
in
Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...
, management of which is shared between Costa Rica ( Caribbean La Amistad and Pacific La Amistad Conservation Areas) and
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 ...
, following a recommendation by
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 ...
after the park's inclusion in the
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 ...
list in 1983. The park and surrounding
Biosphere Reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...
is one of the most outstanding conservation areas in Central America, preserving a major tract of tropical forest wilderness. It is world-renowned for its extraodinary biodiversity and
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 ...
.


Geography

La Amistad International Park is equally split between Costa Rica and Panama, as part of the former ''La Amistad Reserves''. The park protects a large part of the
Cordillera de Talamanca The Cordillera de Talamanca is a mountain range that lies in the southeast half of Costa Rica and the far west of Panama. Much of the range and the area around it is included in La Amistad International Park, which also is shared between the two ...
mountain range, including the highest point in Costa Rica,
Cerro Chirripó Cerro is Spanish for "hill" or "mountain". Toponyms ;Bolivia: * Cerro Rico, the "Rich Mountain" containing silver ore near Potosi, Bolivia ;Brazil: * Cerro Branco, a municipality of Rio Grande do Sul *Cerro Grande, Rio Grande do Sul, a municip ...
. It covers 401,000 ha of tropical forest and is the largest nature reserve in Central America; together with a 15 km buffer zone, it represents a major biodiversity resource at a regional (ca 20% of the region's species diversity) and global level. This is recognized in its strategic position in the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor and its designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its cross-frontier position gives it unique potential to improve bioregional planning. The park's buffer zone includes coffee and beef producers and indigenous subsistence farmers. Three indigenous tribes – the Naso,
Bribri The Bribri are an Indigenous people in eastern Costa Rica and northern Panama. Today, most Bribri people speak the Bribri language or Spanish. There are varying estimates from government officials of the group's population. Estimates of the to ...
, and Ngöbe-Buglé – also live within the park. These indigenous groups live in small, traditional villages.


Biodiversity

Unique in Central America, La Amistad International Park displays signs of
Quaternary glaciation The Quaternary glaciation, also known as the Pleistocene glaciation, is an alternating series of glacial and interglacial periods during the Quaternary period that began 2.58 Ma (million years ago) and is ongoing. Although geologists describ ...
. The repeated glaciations and topographic isolation has led to extraordinary habitat diversity within the park, favoring high rates of biodiversity and speciation. More than 10,000 flowering plants have been described within the park, along with 215 mammal species, roughly 250 reptiles and amphibian species, and 115 species of freshwater fish. Five species of big cats roam the park: pumas,
ocelots The ocelot (''Leopardus pardalis'') is a medium-sized spotted wild cat that reaches at the shoulders and weighs between on average. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. Two subspecies are recognized. It is native to the southwe ...
,
margay The margay (''Leopardus wiedii'') is a small wild cat native to Central and South America. A solitary and nocturnal cat, it lives mainly in primary evergreen and deciduous forest. Until the 1990s, margays were hunted illegally for the wildlif ...
,
jaguars The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the thi ...
, and jaguarundis. The park contains 600 species of birds, including the three-wattled bellbird,
resplendent quetzal The resplendent quetzal (''Pharomachrus mocinno'') is a small bird found in southern Mexico and Central America, with two recognized subspecies, ''P. m. mocinno'' and ''P. m. costaricensis''. These animals live in tropical forests, particularly ...
, yellow-green brushfinch, and bare-necked umbrellabird. The park also protects critical habitat for many endangered species, such as the ornate spider monkey, 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 ...
, and the splendid poison frog. At least 7 amphibian species are entirely restricted to the park boundaries including the Chiriquí fire salamander. As a consequence of the difficulty of the terrain, the park is relatively unexplored and the only substantial scientific explorations deep into the park have been led by the Natural History Museum London, INBio and the University of Panama in the last 6 years (2003–2008). In 2006 the UK's Darwin Initiative funded a three-year collaborative project led by the Natural History Museum, London, INBio (Costa Rica) and ANAM (Panama). The aim of the Initiative was to generate baseline biodiversity information for the park and a map of the biodiversity. This involved a series of seven multi-disciplinary and international expeditions to remote parts of La Amistad during which over 7,500 plant, 17,000 beetle and 380 herpetological collections were made and deposited in the national collections of Costa Rica and Panama. These expeditions also led to the discovery of 12 plant species, one dung beetle species, 15 amphibian and three reptile species new to science.


See also

*
List of World Heritage Sites This is a list of the lists of World Heritage Sites. A World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as having special cultural or physical significance. General lis ...
* Talamanca Range *
Talamancan montane forests The Talamancan montane forests ecoregion, in the tropical moist broadleaf forest biome, are in montane Costa Rica and western Panama in Central America. Setting The Talamancan montane forests cover a discontinuous area of in Cordilleran mounta ...
* Talamancan páramo


References

*C.Michael Hogan. 2008
''Isthmian-Atlantic_moist_forests''. Encyclopedia of Earth.
National Council of Science and the Environment, ed. Cutler Cleveland


External links


UNESCO La Amistad International Park overview
(PDF file)
Web page of Darwin Initiative project on the biodiversity of La Amistad
{{authority control Peace parks National parks of Panama National parks of Costa Rica Biosphere reserves of Costa Rica Biosphere reserves of Panama World Heritage Sites in Panama World Heritage Sites in Costa Rica Protected areas established in 1988 Geography of Limón Province Transboundary protected areas Tourist attractions in Limón Province