Lago Peñuelas National Reserve is a national reserve of

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

.World Database on Protected Areas
The reserve was created around Peñuelas Lake, a freshwater reservoir that provides drinking water to

Valparaíso Valparaíso () is a major city, Communes of Chile, commune, Port, seaport, and naval base facility in the Valparaíso Region of Chile. Valparaíso was originally named after Valparaíso de Arriba, in Castilla–La Mancha, Castile-La Mancha, Spain ...

and

Viña del Mar Viña del Mar (; meaning "Vineyard of the Sea") is a List of cities in Chile, city and Communes of Chile, commune on Zona Central, Chile, central Chile's Pacific coast. Often referred to as ("The Garden City"), Viña del Mar is located withi ...

. The park, which is located in the

Valparaíso Region The Valparaíso Region (, ) is one of Chile's 16 Regions of Chile, first order administrative divisions.Valparaíso Region, 2006 With the country's second-highest population of 1,790,219 , and fourth-smallest area of , the region is Chile's sec ...

of Chile, was declared a protected area in the year 1952 in order to protect the drainage of the Peñuelas

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

and

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aqua ...

, built at the end of the 19th and beginning of the Twentieth century. The park, along with La Campana National Park to its north, was designated Campana-Peñuelas Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 1984. The park covers an area of 9,260 hectares (35.7 square miles) and is traversed by about 12 km of Chile Route 68, which is the main highway between

and

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

. Its elevation ranges between 337 and 613 metres

AMSL Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level v ...

National System of Protected Wild Areas of the State

In Chile there is the National System of Protected Wild Areas of the State (SNASPE), which includes three categories: National Parks, National Reserves and Natural Monuments. Currently the Lago Penuelas National Reserve is under this protection. This unit, together with the La Campana National Park, constitute a Biosphere Reserve for studying the flora of this area. The study has recorded approximately 150 species of native species, a rich flora compared with other native forests in the zone are also recorded. In addition 14 of 300 (total) are conservation issues (2 endangered, 11 vulnerable, and 1 insufficiently known).

Flora and fauna

The flora of the reserve includes mixed forest,

riparian A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. In some regions, the terms riparian woodland, riparian forest, riparian buffer zone, riparian corridor, and riparian strip are used to characterize a ripar ...

scrub, and deciduous forest and thorny scrub. Exotic tree species are planted in the reserve, including ''

Eucalyptus globulus ''Eucalyptus globulus'', commonly known as southern blue gum or blue gum, is a species of flowering plant in the family Myrtaceae. It is a tall, evergreen tree Endemism, endemic to southeastern Australia. This ''Eucalyptus'' species has most ...

'' and ''

Pinus radiata ''Pinus radiata'' ( syn. ''Pinus insignis''), the Monterey pine, insignis pine or radiata pine, is a species of pine native to the Central Coast of California and Mexico (on Guadalupe Island and Cedros island). It is an evergreen conifer in t ...

''. A total of 120 bird species have been recorded in the reserve. ''

Leopardus colocolo The Pampas cat (''Leopardus colocola'') is a Felinae, small wild cat native to South America. It is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List as habitat conversion and Habitat destruction, destruction may cause the population to decline in ...

'', '' Galictis cuja'', '' Conepatus chinga'', '' Lycalopex culpaeus'' and '' Lycalopex griseus'' are mammal species that can be found here.

Climate of the reserve

The climate of this area is Mediterranean typical with maritime influence. The temperature varies because of the influence of the sea, the annual temperatures are between 12 degrees Celsius (54 degrees Fahrenheit) and 18 degrees Celsius (64 degrees Fahrenheit). There is occasional precipitation with the highest amount in winter and beginning at the end of autumn and extending until August. 80% of the rain is recorded between May and August.

References

External links

Official Lago Peñelas National Reserve website
National reserves of Chile Protected areas of Valparaíso Region Chilean Matorral {{Valparaíso-geo-stub