Irazú Volcano National Park, or in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

the , is a

National Park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

in the

Central Conservation Area Central Conservation Area (), is an administrative area which is managed by SINAC for the purposes of conservation in the central part of Costa Rica, notably the volcanic areas of the Cordillera Central. It contains six National Parks, several ...

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

that encompasses the area around the

Irazú Volcano The Irazú Volcano () is an active volcano in Costa Rica, situated in the Cordillera Central close to the city of Cartago. The name might have come from either the combination of "ara" (point) and "tzu" (thunder) or a corruption of ''Iztar ...

Cartago Province Cartago (), which means Carthage in Spanish, is a Provinces of Costa Rica, province of central Costa Rica. It is one of the smallest provinces, however probably the richest of the Spanish Colonial era sites and traditions. Geography It is loca ...

which incorporates what used to be the Ruben Torres Rojas Forest Reserve now called the Prusia Forest Reserve. The volcano is still active although the last major eruptions were between 1963 and 1965, with occasional minor eruptions and some small lava flows since that time. The park is the site of a

reforestation Reforestation is the practice of restoring previously existing forests and woodlands that have been destroyed or damaged. The prior forest destruction might have happened through deforestation, clearcutting or wildfires. Three important purpose ...

project to restore the area which was destroyed by the eruptions. The forest is made up of conifers and other exotic and native species and also a native forest consisting mainly of oaks and alder, protecting the watershed of the Reventado River. The Crater Principal lake has an unusual greenish yellow coloring caused by rainfall dissolving the minerals along the craters walls. It has also been known to change colour to rust-red depending on the minerals present. The inactive, dry Diego de la Haya crater is just to the East of the Crater Principal and is filled with volcanic ash.

External links

* at Costa Rica National Parks National parks of Costa Rica Protected areas established in 1955 Geography of Cartago Province Tourist attractions in Cartago Province 1955 establishments in Costa Rica {{CostaRica-protected-area-stub