Huascarán National Park () is a

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

vian national park that comprises most of the mountain range known as

Cordillera Blanca The Cordillera Blanca (Spanish for "white range") is a mountain range in Peru that is part of the larger Andes range and extends for between 8°08' and 9°58'S and 77°00' and 77°52'W, in a northwesterly direction. It includes several peaks ove ...

(the world's highest tropical mountain range) which is part of the central

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

, in the region of Ancash. The park covers an area of and is managed by the Peruvian Network of Protected Natural Areas, or SERNANP (Servicio Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas). It was designated as a

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

in 1985 by

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

, is also a well-known mountaineering spot, and harbors a unique biodiversity with plant species such as the Queen of the Andes, trees of the genera '' Polylepis'' and ''

Buddleja ''Buddleja'' (; ''Buddleia''; also historically given as ''Buddlea'') is a genus comprising over 140 species of flowering plants endemicity, endemic to Asia, Africa, and the Americas. The generic name bestowed by Carl Linnaeus, Linnaeus posthu ...

'', and animals such as

spectacled bear The spectacled bear (''Tremarctos ornatus''), also known as the South American bear, Andean bear, Andean short-faced bear or mountain bear and locally as jukumari ( Aymara and Quechua), ukumari ( Quechua) or ukuku, is a species of bear native to ...

s, condors, vicunas, and tarucas. The park is approximately long from north to south and averages about in width. The western slope of the Cordillera Blanca drains to the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

via the

Santa River The Santa River () is a river in the South American Andes mountain range in the Ancash Region of northwest central Peru. River course Lake Conococha, at an altitude of 4,050 m above sea level and at , is considered the headwaters of the Santa R ...

and the eastern slopes drain to the

Marañón River The Marañón River (, , ) is the principal or mainstem source of the Amazon River, arising about 160 km (100 miles) to the northeast of Lima, Peru, and flowing northwest across plateaus 3,650 m (12,000 feet) high, it runs through a deeply ero ...

and ultimately to the Amazon River and the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

History

Official efforts to protect this area started in 1960, when Senator Augusto Guzmán Robles presented a bill to the

Peruvian Congress The Congress of the Republic of Peru () is the unicameral body that assumes legislative power in Peru. Due to broadly interpreted impeachment wording in the Constitution of Peru, the President of Peru can be removed by Congress without cause, ...

for the creation of Huascarán National Park. In 1963, the Forestry and Hunting Service (''Servicio Forestal y de Caza'') presented a preliminary project for the delimitation of the Cordillera Blanca National Park, covering an area of . On 18 February 1966, a government resolution prohibiting the logging and hunting of native species in the area of the Cordillera Blanca was issued. Later that year, the Patronage of Huascarán National Park was formed in Yungay. In 1967, Curry Slaymaker and Joel Albrecht,

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an Independent agency of the U.S. government, independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to communities in partner countries around the world. It was established in Marc ...

volunteers, formulated delimitation proposal on an area of ; and simultaneously, the Forest Regional Service of

Huaraz Huaraz () (from Quechua: ''Waraq'' or ''Warash'', "''dawn''"), formerly designated as San Sebastián de Huaraz, is a city in Peru. It is the capital of the Ancash Region (State of Ancash) and the seat of government of Huaraz Province. The urb ...

established the

vicuña The vicuña (''Lama vicugna'') or vicuna (both , very rarely spelled ''vicugna'', Vicugna, its former genus name) is one of the two wild South American camelids, which live in the high alpine tundra, alpine areas of the Andes; the other cameli ...

and queen-of the-Andes surveillance zone for an area of approximately . Finally, on 1 July 1975, Huascarán National Park was created by decree No. 0622-75-AG, with an extension of . Definite delimitation of Huascarán National Park was possible through the reversion of land to state control by means of compensated land expropriation. The park's boundaries avoided the inclusion of settlements when possible, but several communities continue to raise livestock, although park authorities try to regulate the practice. In 1977, UNESCO recognized Huascarán National Park as a

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, funga, or features of geologic ...

, which covers the

valley, well beyond the park's boundaries, encompassing many villages and towns. In 1985 the park was declared a

Geography

Huascarán National Park protects the Cordillera Blanca, which is the world's highest tropical mountain range. Located in the central Peruvian Andes, the park's cover an elevational range from around to the several snow-capped

peaks PEAKS is a proteomics software program for tandem mass spectrometry designed for peptide sequencing, protein identification and quantification. Description PEAKS is commonly used for peptide identification (Protein ID) through de novo peptide ...

above . Among those peaks are

Huascarán Huascarán (), ( Quechua: Waskaran), Nevado Huascarán or Mataraju is a mountain located in Yungay Province, Department of Ancash, Peru. It is situated in the Cordillera Blanca range of the western Andes. The southern summit of Huascarán (Huasc ...

(Peru's highest at ), Huandoy,

Copa Copa or COPA may refer to: COPA COPA may refer to: * Child Online Protection Act, a former U.S. law to protect minors from certain material on the internet * Canadian Owners and Pilots Association * Cirrus Aircraft, Cirrus Owners and Pilots Asso ...

, Huantsán and many others. Other geographical features inside the park include:

U-shaped valley U-shaped valleys, also called trough valleys or glacial troughs, are formed by the process of Glacial period, glaciation. They are characteristic of mountain glaciation in particular. They have a characteristic U shape in cross-section, with s ...

s, 660 tropical

glacier A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...

s (the largest glaciated area in the tropics), 300

glacial lake A glacial lake is a body of water with origins from glacier activity. They are formed when a glacier erodes the land and then melts, filling the depression created by the glacier. Formation Near the end of the last glacial period, roughly 10,0 ...

s and high

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; : plateaus or plateaux), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. ...

s intersected by

ravine A ravine is a landform that is narrower than a canyon and is often the product of streambank erosion. Ravines are typically classified as larger in scale than gullies, although smaller than valleys. Ravines may also be called a cleuch, dell, ...

s with torrential creeks.

Climate

The climate in the park has two well defined seasons: a rainy season from December to March and a dry season from April to November. During the rainy season thunderstorms are frequent and the fields and mountain slopes are covered in many shades of green; however, the dry season brings sunshine almost every day and cloudless but cold nights. Daily temperatures in the rainy season can go from a maximum of to a minimum of ; while in the dry season the maximum can be and the minimum .

Ecology

Being the highest tropical mountain range in the world, the Cordillera Blanca boasts a variety of climates from subalpine to alpine and

tundra In physical geography, a tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. There are three regions and associated types of tundra: #Arctic, Arctic, Alpine tundra, Alpine, and #Antarctic ...

. The valleys and mountain slopes are covered with scattered high Andean forests and

puna grassland The puna grassland ecoregion, part of the Andean montane grasslands and shrublands biome, is found in the central Andes Mountains of South America. It is considered one of the eight Natural Regions in Peru,Pulgar Vidal, Javier: Geografía del Per ...

Fauna

More than 120 bird species have been reported in this area including the

Andean condor The Andean condor (''Vultur gryphus'') is a South American New World vulture and is the only member of the genus ''Vultur''. It is found in the Andes mountains and adjacent Pacific coasts of western South America. With a maximum wingspan of and ...

, the torrent duck, the puna tinamou, the brown pintail, the Andean crested duck, the

giant hummingbird The giant hummingbirds are Hummingbird, hummingbirds of the genus ''Patagona''. The genus includes two species, the northern giant hummingbird, sedentary giant hummingbird and the southern giant hummingbird, migratory giant hummingbird, which are ...

, the yanavico, the white-tufted grebe, the giant coot, the chiguanco thrush and the

Andean gull The Andean gull (''Chroicocephalus serranus'') is a species in subfamily Larinae of the family Laridae, the gulls, terns, and skimmers. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. ...

. More than ten species of

mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...

s have been observed in the park, several of them

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

, including the colocolo, the

Andean mountain cat The Andean mountain cat (''Leopardus jacobita'') is a small wild cat native to the high Andes that has been listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List because fewer than 1,500 individuals are thought to exist in the wild. It is traditionally con ...

, the

, the taruca deer, the

, the

white-tailed deer The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known Common name, commonly as the whitetail and the Virginia deer, is a medium-sized species of deer native to North America, North, Central America, Central and South America. It is the ...

, the puma, the

northern viscacha The northern viscacha (''Lagidium peruanum'') is a species of viscacha, a rodent in the family Chinchillidae. It is known from Peru and Chile, at elevations from 300 to 5000 m, and may also be present in Bolivia. Description The northern visca ...

, the

long-tailed weasel The long-tailed weasel (''Neogale frenata''), also known as the bridled weasel, masked ermine, or big stoat, is a species of weasel found in North America, North, Central America, Central, and South America. It is distinct from the Stoat, short-t ...

, the hog-nosed skunk and the Andean fox.

Flora

Some 779 plant species have been identified inside the park, the queen of the Andes (''Puya raimondii'') being one of the most representative and an object of conservation. Other plant species present in the park are: '' Polylepis racemosa, Escallonia resinosa,

Alnus acuminata Alders are trees of the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus includes about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few species e ...

, Senna birostris, Vallea stipularis,

Lupinus ''Lupinus'', commonly known as lupin, lupine, or regionally bluebonnet, is a genus of plants in the legume family Fabaceae. The genus includes over 199 species, with centre of diversity, centres of diversity in North America, North and South A ...

'' spp''.,

Vaccinium floribundum ''Vaccinium floribundum'', commonly known as mortiño or Andean blueberry, is a slender shrub that grows in the northern Andes in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela at elevations from . It can reach high or it can be dwarf and prostr ...

, Calamagrostis vicunarum, Festuca dolichophylla, Jarava ichu,'' ''Azorella'' spp., etc. Peru 2010

Activities

Visitors to the park can enjoy activities such as

hiking A hike is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century. Long hikes as part of a religious pilgrimage have existed for a much longer time. "Hi ...

, wildlife watching,

mountain biking Mountain biking (MTB) is a sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, usually using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes but incorporate features designed to enhance durability ...

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow for basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the International S ...

mountaineering Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become mounta ...

trekking Backpacking is the outdoor recreation of carrying gear on one's back while hiking for more than a day. It is often an extended journey and may involve camping outdoors. In North America, tenting is common, where simple shelters and mountain hu ...

and

cultural tourism Cultural tourism is a type of tourism in which the visitor's essential motivation is to learn, discover, experience and consume the cultural attractions and products offered by a tourist destination. These attractions and products relate to the ...

. Huascarán has 25 trekking routes and 102 mountaineering spots. The park also has potential for research in many scientific areas, such as:

meteorology Meteorology is the scientific study of the Earth's atmosphere and short-term atmospheric phenomena (i.e. weather), with a focus on weather forecasting. It has applications in the military, aviation, energy production, transport, agricultur ...

geology Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth ...

glaciology Glaciology (; ) is the scientific study of glaciers, or, more generally, ice and natural phenomena that involve ice. Glaciology is an interdisciplinary Earth science that integrates geophysics, geology, physical geography, geomorphology, clim ...

botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

limnology Limnology ( ; ) is the study of inland aquatic ecosystems. It includes aspects of the biological, chemical, physical, and geological characteristics of fresh and saline, natural and man-made bodies of water. This includes the study of lakes, ...

zoology Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...

ecology Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their Natural environment, environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosystem, and biosphere lev ...

, and

wildlife management Wildlife management is the management process influencing interactions among and between wildlife, its Habitat, habitats and people to achieve predefined impacts. Wildlife management can include wildlife conservation, population control, gamekeepi ...

. There are 33

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or recorded history, historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline ...

s within the park, which include: cave paintings, ancient settlements, terraces for agriculture, tombs, fortresses and irrigation works. There's also a pre-Columbian road between the towns of Olleros and Chavin.

Environmental issues

Among the main common threats to the park are glacier retreat due to global warming; hydropower projects; legal and

illegal mining Illegal mining is mining activity that is undertaken without state permission. Illegal mining is the extraction of precious metals/rocks without following the proper procedures to participate in legal mining activity. These procedures include pe ...

operations with low environmental standards; and loss of biodiversity to agricultural land and pastures (the latter mainly due to a conflict between the park's purposes and the ancestral rights to the land by the locals).

References

External links

Huascaran National Park. Official site (in Spanish)

Huascaran National Park. Map.

Official UNESCO website entryProfile at protectedplanet.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Huascaran National Park Biosphere reserves of Peru World Heritage Sites in Peru Protected areas established in 1975 Geography of the Department of Ancash Tourist attractions in the Department of Ancash

History

Geography

Climate

Ecology

Fauna

Flora

Activities

Environmental issues

See also

References

External links