National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC, ) is part of the Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE) of

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 ...

. It is the administrator for the nation's national parks, conservation areas, and other protected natural areas. Created in 1994, it combined three previously separate organisations that had managed laws relating to

national parks 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 ...

wildlife Wildlife refers to domestication, undomesticated animals and uncultivated plant species which can exist in their natural habitat, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wilderness, wild in an area without being species, introdu ...

, and

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests and woodlands for associated resources for human and Natural environment, environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and ...

Scope

SINAC oversees over 160 protected areas, of which 30 are designated National Parks. Other areas are designated wildlife refuges, biological reserves, national monuments, forest reserves, national wetlands, and protected zones. The entire country of 12,596,690 acres (50,977 km²) is under the jurisdiction of eleven large Conservation Areas which were created in 1998, overseen by divisions of SINAC. Over 25% of the national territory, i.e. 3,221,636 acres (13,037 km²) is included in the national parks, refuges, and protected zones within these eleven Conservation Areas. Costa Rica's progressive policies on environmental protection and sustainable eco-tourism in the National Parks System have been lauded as a model for other countries. The

rainforest Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree Canopy (biology), canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropi ...

s, tropical forests, marine areas and

wetlands A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

of Costa Rica are the subject of many university and scientific organization studies. The enrichment of the world's knowledge of these important

habitats In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

is an invaluable contribution from the conservation efforts of the various organisations involved.

Conservation areas

* Arenal Huetar Norte (ACAHN): Arenal Volcano, Juan Castro Blanco National Park, Refugio Nacional de Vida Silvestre Mixto Caño Negro, Refugio Nacional de Vida Silvestre Maquenque. * Arenal Tempisque (ACAT): Tenorio Volcano, Palo Verde * Central (ACC):

Guayabo National Monument Guayabo National Monument (), is an archaeological site near the city of Turrialba, within the Central Conservation Area in the Cartago Province, Costa Rica. It is almost directly in the center of the country on the Southern slope of the Turr ...

, Braulio Carrillo, La Cangreja, Los Quetzales, Tapantí, Irazú Volcano, Poás Volcano,

Turrialba Volcano Turrialba Volcano is an active volcano in central Costa Rica that has been explosively eruptive in recent years including 2016 and in January, March and April 2017. Visitors used to be able to hike down into the main crater, but increased volcan ...

. Reserva Biológica Alberto Manuel Brenes, Reserva Forestal Grecia (Bosque del Niño). * Guanacaste (ACG): Rincón de la Vieja, Santa Rosa, Guanacaste National Park. * La Amistad Caribe (ACLAC): Cahuita, Barbilla * La Amistad-Pacífico (ACLAP): La Amistad International Park which is shared with

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

, Chirripó * Cocos Marine (ACMC): Cocos Island National Park * Osa (ACOSA):

Corcovado Corcovado () which means " hunchback" in Portuguese, is a mountain in central Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is a granite peak located in the Tijuca Forest, a national park. Corcovado hill lies just west of the city center but is wholly within t ...

, Ballena National Marine Park, Piedras Blancas. * Pacífico Central (ACOPAC): Carara, Manuel Antonio. * Tempisque (ACT): Barra Honda, Las Baulas, Diriá National Park * Tortuguero (ACTo): Tortuguero National Park, Refugio de Vida Silvestre Barra del Colorado

References

External links

* {{National parks of Costa Rica Institutions of Costa Rica National park administrators * Protected areas of Costa Rica

Scope

Conservation areas

See also

References

External links