The Sierra Nevada National Park (PNSN) is an important National Park of Venezuela located between Mérida and Barinas states in the west of the country. It was created on May 2, 1952, by decree of President

Germán Suárez Flamerich Germán Suárez Flamerich (10 April 1907 – 24 June 1990) was the president of Venezuela from 1950 to 1952. Flamerich was a lawyer, college professor, diplomat, and politician. He was president of the Government Junta from 1950 to 1952, after th ...

, in order to protect the

Sierra Nevada de Mérida The Sierra Nevada de Mérida is the highest mountain range in the largest massif in Venezuela, the Cordillera de Mérida, which in turn is part of the northern extent of the Cordillera de los Andes (Andes Mountains). The Sierra Nevada de Mérida i ...

in the

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

. It was the second national park decreed, after

Henri Pittier National Park Henri Pittier National Park is the oldest national park in Venezuela, originally created in 1937 under the name of ''Rancho Grande'' by decree of President Eleazar López Contreras. In 1953 the park was renamed in honor of Henri Pittier, a distin ...

, which became the first Venezuelan national park 15 years earlier. The Sierra Nevada is an area of great ecological importance for Venezuela, for preservation of the ecosystem of the tallest in the country, where mountain ranges are located at higher altitudes of the Venezuelan

, including the

Pico Bolívar Pico Bolívar is the highest mountain in Venezuela, at 4,978 metres (16,332 ft).Pérez et al (Sep. 2005)"Alturas del Pico Bolívar y otras cimas andinas venezolanas a partir de observaciones Gps."INCI v.30, n.4, Caracas sep. 2005. Retrieved ...

, the highest geographical in Venezuela with 4,978 m.

History

The initiative to create the Sierra Nevada Park was born in the Escuela de Ingeniería Forestal since 1948. The proposal takes strength and the University of the Andes, appoints a commission to the preliminary study, later, was presented to national authorities to justify the creation of the park. On May 2, 1952, the Governing Board chaired by Germán Suárez Flamerich, signed a decree which stated the Sierra Nevada as National Park. The Sierra Nevada Park is the second oldest National Park in Venezuela, after Henri Pittier National Park. Initially the park covered an area of 190,000 ha. However, the August 14, 1985 by decree of the National Executive, President

Jaime Lusinchi Jaime Ramón Lusinchi (27 May 1924 – 21 May 2014) was a Venezuelan politician who was the president of Venezuela from 1984 to 1989. His term was characterized by an economic crisis, growth of the external debt, populist policies, currency dep ...

are added other 86,446 ha., leaving a total area of 276,446 ha.

Geography

Nuevo teleferico merida mukumbari febrero 2017 10

The park encompasses parts of six municipalities of the states of Mérida and three of the Barinas state. Its total area is 276,446 hectares, of which 185,886 hectares belong to the state of Mérida, which means 67.2% of the total area, while the remaining 90,560 ha represent the state of Barinas, 32.8% of the area of the park. The Sierra Nevada covers one of the two branches of the

Cordillera de Mérida The Cordillera de Mérida is a series of mountain ranges, or massif, in northwestern Venezuela. The Cordillera de Mérida is a northeastern extension of the Andes Mountains and the most important branch of the Venezuelan Andes. The ranges run sou ...

in the central Andes of Venezuela, which is the same name Sierra Nevada, the area of it is rugged highlighting the location of the main peaks in the country as these are

(4,978 m),

Pico Humboldt Pico Humboldt is Venezuela's second highest peak, at 4,925 metres above sea level. It is located in the Sierra Nevada de Merida, in the Venezuelan Andes of (Mérida State). The peak, its sister peak Pico Bonpland, and the surrounding páramos ar ...

(4,942 m), Pico La Concha (4922),

Pico Bonpland Pico Bonpland is Venezuela's third highest peak, at 4,883 metres above sea level. It is located in the Sierra Nevada de Merida, in the Venezuelan Andes of (Mérida State). The peak with its sister peak Pico Humboldt, and the surrounding páramo ...

(4883),

Pico Espejo Pico Espejo (Mirror Peak) is a mountain in the Andes of Venezuela. It has a height of . Near its peak is the fifth and final station of the Mérida cable car The Mérida Cable Car ( es, Teleférico de Mérida) or Mukumbarí is a cable car ...

(4880), Pico León (4740),

Pico El Toro Pico El Toro is a mountain in the Andes of Venezuela. It has a height of 4755 metres. See also

*List of mountains in the Andes {{Venezuela-geo-stub Mountains of Venezuela Sierra Nevada National Park (Venezuela) ...

(4729) and Pico Mucuñuque (4609). The Sierra Nevada is separated from the

Sierra La Culata The Sierra de La Culata is a mountain range in the largest massif in Venezuela, the Cordillera de Mérida, which in turn is part of the northern extent of the Andes, Cordillera de los Andes (Andes Mountains). The Sierra la Culata includes some of t ...

, other Cordilleran massif of Andean mountain range, by depression of the Chama River in the north, while the northeast makes the valley of the River Santo Domingo, from the

Kettle Mucubají Kettle Mucubají ( es, Laguna de Mucubají) is a glacial lake located in Sierra Nevada National Park, in the Mérida State of Venezuela. The lake is 3625–3655 metres above sea level. Kettle Mucubají is one of the biggest kettles in the val ...

to the dam José Antonio Páez. In the southwest, the boundary of the park forms the valley of River Nuestra Señora, left bank tributary of the Chama River, downstream from the city of Ejido. The park is in two major mountain ranges: the

and the Sierra de Santo Domingo, which are characterized by high peaks, glacial valleys and river valleys. Most rivers are the Chama, Albarregas and Mucujún flowing into Lake Maracaibo. Meanwhile, the Orinoco basin, the main ones are the Caparo, the Santo Domingo and the Cajurí that flows into the Uribante. In the park are also thirteen watersheds, and ten lakes of glacial origin, that global warming effects have been reduced, some of them are: Mucubají, La Negra, La Verde and Los Anteojos. The vegetation of the park is representative of the Andean cloud forests, mostly trees and undergrowth layers well developed and numerous epiphytes and endemic species. The higher altitudes, above 3,000 m is developed typical moorland vegetation, consisting of a large number of species of

Espeletia ''Espeletia'', commonly known as 'frailejones' ("big monks"), is a genus of perennial subshrubs, in the family Asteraceae. The genus, which is native mainly to Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador, was first formally described in 1808. The genus was ...

. It also presents a xerophytic scrub vegetation in the drier areas of the River Basin Nuestra Señora. In Barinas, the vegetation is predominantly forest, with trees up to 25 m. height.

Climate

The Sierra Nevada has two annual periods, a period of maximum rainfall concentrated between May and October and a dry period or minimum rainfall between December and March. In addition to the precipitation as rain, is also very common in snow precipitation or snowfall in the highest peaks, snowfalls are frequent between July and September and sporadic the rest of the year. Due to its location in a mountain range, the temperature range in the park is quite large, varying its annual average between 26 °C in the lower areas (400 m) and -05 °C in the highest peaks (+ 4900 masl).

Fauna

Charolais cattle, Sierra Nevada, Venezuela

For the type of weather that gives the park, it has developed into one of the largest shelter and space for hundreds of animal species. One of the largest species can be found in the park is the spectacled bear, besides being the only representative of the family

Ursidae Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Nort ...

in the Andes, is one of the endangered species. Among other species of wildlife living in the Sierra Nevada are: the

white-tailed deer The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known as the whitetail or Virginia deer, is a medium-sized deer native to North America, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru and Bolivia. It has also been introduced t ...

, the

helmeted curassow The helmeted curassow (''Pauxi pauxi'') or northern helmeted curassow, is a large terrestrial bird in the family Cracidae found in the subtropical cloud-forest in steep, mountainous regions of western Venezuela and northern Colombia. There are t ...

, the puma, the

Andean coati Mountain coatis are two species of procyonid mammals from the genus ''Nasuella''. Unlike the larger coatis from the genus '' Nasua'', mountain coatis only weigh and are endemic to the north Andean highlands in South America. Genetics and taxono ...

, the Andean leopard, the

jaguar 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 th ...

, the

paca A paca is a member of the genus ''Cuniculus'' of ground-dwelling, herbivorous rodents in South and Central America. It is the only genus in the family Cuniculidae. Pacas are large rodents with dots and stripes on their sides, short ears, and ...

and the rabbit of the moor, among others. Feral cattle and horses can be found in the area. Among the birds in the park includes the

Andean guan The Andean guan (''Penelope montagnii'') is a gamefowl species of the family (biology), family Cracidae, in which it belongs to the guan (bird), guan subfamily Penelopinae. This bird occurs in the highlands (5,000 ft/1,500 m above mean sea l ...

, the white-tailed quetzal, the masked

trogon The trogons and quetzals are birds in the order Trogoniformes which contains only one family, the Trogonidae. The family Trogonidae contains 46 species in seven genera. The fossil record of the trogons dates back 49 million years to the Early E ...

magpie Magpies are birds of the Corvidae family. Like other members of their family, they are widely considered to be intelligent creatures. The Eurasian magpie, for instance, is thought to rank among the world's most intelligent creatures, and is one ...

s and black-chested buzzard-eagle, some larger species like the

Andean condor The Andean condor (''Vultur gryphus'') is a giant South American Cathartid vulture and is the only member of the genus ''Vultur''. Found in the Andes mountains and adjacent Pacific coasts of western South America, the Andean condor is the larg ...

are now in danger of extinction and is therefore is taking a restocking program in Colombia.

Access

The most popular access to the park is via the

Mérida cable car The Mérida Cable Car ( es, Teleférico de Mérida) or Mukumbarí is a cable car system in Venezuela. Its base is located in the Venezuelan city of Mérida at an altitude of , and its terminus is on Pico Espejo, at . It is the highest and se ...

. Another important input is by road through the village of Tabay, for the area of La Mucuy, entering the Park Sierra Nevada making a trip through the lagoons Coromoto, La Verde, El Suero, bordering the picos Humboldt, La Concha, the area basis for up to Pico Bolívar by the south, and reaching the Pico Espejo back south-east.

Gallery

File:Virgen de las Nieves est. Pico espejo.jpg, Virgin of the Snows File:Pico Humboldt, cara sur.jpg, Humboldt Peak File:Lag Coromoto.JPG, Coromoto Lagoon File:Pico Bolìvar, Venezuela (12680169013).jpg, Los Nevados Village File:Laguna del Santo Cristo, Parque Sierra Nevada.jpg, Santo Cristo Lagoon (Holy Christ Lagoon) File:Quebrada Mucubají, Sierra de Santo Domingo.JPG, Mucubaji river File:Laguna el suero.JPG, El Suero Lagoon File:Laguna Los Hielitos- Pico Bondpland (Sierra Nevada-Merida) (4).JPG, Los Hielitos Lagoon, Bondpland Peak File:Mucubaji Laguna.jpg, Mucubaji Lagoon File:Cascada en la base del Humbold.jpg, Waterfall at the base of Humboldt Peak File:Laguna Verde (Sierra Nevada-Merida) (4).JPG, Verde Lagoon File:Flores para la Nieve.JPG, Bolívar Peak File:Caballos en la pradera Paramo Sierra Nevada Estdo Merida.JPG, Horses in the Park File:Capilla de la Virgen de Coromoto, San Rafael de Mucuchies.JPG, Our Lady of Coromoto chapel

References

{{authority control National parks of Venezuela Geography of Mérida (state) Geography of Barinas (state) Páramos Protected areas established in 1952 1952 establishments in Venezuela Tourist attractions in Mérida (state)