The Tamá National Natural Park () 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 ...
located in the
Tamá Massif of the
Andean Region of Colombia
The Andean region, located in central Colombia, is the most populated natural region of Colombia. With many mountains, the Andes contain most of the country's urban centers.[Toledo
Toledo most commonly refers to:
* Toledo, Spain, a city in Spain
* Province of Toledo, Spain
* Toledo, Ohio, a city in the United States
Toledo may also refer to:
Places Belize
* Toledo District
* Toledo Settlement
Bolivia
* Toledo, Or ...]
and Herrán, in the department of
Norte de Santander
Norte de Santander (Spanish for Northern Santander) () is a department of northeastern Colombia. It is in the north of the country, bordering Venezuela. Its capital is Cúcuta, one of the country's major cities.
Norte de Santander is bordere ...
, in the northeastern part of the
Eastern Ranges
The Eastern Ranges is an Australian rules football team that currently competes in the Talent League, the Victorian statewide under-18s competition.
History Inaugural playing squad (1992)
Honours
*Premiers (2): 2002, 2013
*Runners-up (6): 199 ...
of the Colombian
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 ...
. One of the main attractions of the park is a
waterfall
A waterfall is any point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge
of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf.
Waterfalls can be formed in seve ...
, one of the world's highest.
General
The park is connected to
El Tamá National Park
The El Tamá National Park () It is a protected area with the status of a national park that is located between the Andes and plains of Venezuela.
It protects part of the Tamá Massif.
It has an area of and is located in the states of Táchira (1 ...
in
Venezuela
Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...
via the borders to the
Venezuelan states Táchira
Táchira State (, ) is one of the 23 States of Venezuela, states of Venezuela. The state capital is San Cristóbal, Táchira, San Cristóbal.
Táchira State covers a total surface area of and as of the 2011 census, had a population of 1,168,9 ...
and
Apure
Apure State (, ) is one of the 23 States of Venezuela, states of Venezuela. Its territory formed part of the provinces of Mérida (state), Mérida, Maracaibo, and Barinas (state), Barinas, in accordance with successive territorial ordinations ...
,
together they form a larger protected area with an additional .
On the Colombian side, (99%) of the park is located in
Toledo
Toledo most commonly refers to:
* Toledo, Spain, a city in Spain
* Province of Toledo, Spain
* Toledo, Ohio, a city in the United States
Toledo may also refer to:
Places Belize
* Toledo District
* Toledo Settlement
Bolivia
* Toledo, Or ...
and in Herrán.
It was established on 6 June 1977
for conservational, scientific and recreational reasons.
The altitude varies between
above mean sea level
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 ...
, with the majority of the park located higher than .
The average temperature is between .
Flora and fauna
The forests are included in the
Venezuelan Andes montane forests
The Venezuelan Andes montane forests (NT0175) is an ecoregion in the northern arm of the Andes in Venezuela.
It contains montane and cloud forests, reaching up to the high-level Cordillera de Merida páramo high moor ecoregion.
The forests are hom ...
ecoregion, which also covers the Venezuelan Andean cordillera.
Tamá has four types of natural environments: tropical rainforest, sub-Andean forest, Andean forest and
páramo
Páramo () may refer to a variety of alpine tundra ecosystems located in the Andes Mountain Range, South America. Some ecologists describe the páramo broadly as "all high, tropical, montane vegetation above the continuous timberline". A narrower ...
.
Notable flora include: ''
Weinmannia pubescens'', ''
Wettinia microcarpa'', ''
Befaria glauca'',
Mexican alder and endemic ''
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 n ...
uribei'' which grows higher than .
Palms prosper in the lower-altitudes, and
moss
Mosses are small, non-vascular plant, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic phylum, division Bryophyta (, ) ''sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Wilhelm Philippe Schimper, Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryo ...
of the genus ''
Sphagnum
''Sphagnum'' is a genus of approximately 380 accepted species of mosses, commonly known as sphagnum moss, also bog moss and quacker moss (although that term is also sometimes used for peat). Accumulations of ''Sphagnum'' can store water, since ...
'' grows in the swamps.
The fauna is varied, notable mammals found in the area include:
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 ...
,
opossum
Opossums () are members of the marsupial order Didelphimorphia () endemic to the Americas. The largest order of marsupials in the Western Hemisphere, it comprises 126 species in 18 genera. Opossums originated in South America and entered North A ...
,
deer
A deer (: deer) or true deer is a hoofed ruminant ungulate of the family Cervidae (informally the deer family). Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae (which includes, among others, muntjac, elk (wapiti), red deer, and fallow deer) ...
,
mountain lion
The cougar (''Puma concolor'') (, ''Help:Pronunciation respelling key, KOO-gər''), also called puma, mountain lion, catamount and panther is a large small cat native to the Americas. It inhabits North America, North, Central America, Cent ...
and
anteater
Anteaters are the four extant mammal species in the suborder Vermilingua (meaning "worm tongue"), commonly known for eating ants and termites. The individual species have other names in English and other languages. Together with sloths, they ar ...
. Notable birds include:
oilbird
The oilbird (''Steatornis caripensis''), locally known as the , is a bird species found in the northern areas of South America including the Caribbean island of Trinidad. It is the only living species in the genus ''Steatornis'', the family Stea ...
, endangered
northern helmeted curassow and
flame-winged parakeet, a species endemic to the region.
and
Helena's marsupial frog are
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...
to the Páramo de Tamá.
Hydrography
The water resources generated in the Tamá National Park are of interest for the economic and social development of the departments of Norte de Santander and
Arauca in Colombia and the states of Táchira and Apure in Venezuela.
The hydrographic network of the Tamá National Natural Park, which drains towards the watershed of the
Maracaibo
Maracaibo ( , ; ) is a city and municipality in northwestern Venezuela, on the western shore of the strait that connects Lake Maracaibo to the Gulf of Venezuela. It is the largest city in Venezuela and is List of cities in Venezuela by population ...
basin (Táchira river that collects water from the Orocué Creek, La Pedrera, La Colorada and Agua Blanca) and the watershed of the
Orinoco
The Orinoco () is one of the longest rivers in South America at . Its drainage basin, sometimes known as the Orinoquia, covers approximately 1 million km2, with 65% of it in Venezuela and 35% in Colombia. It is the List of rivers by discharge, f ...
basin (the river Oirá, which serves as the boundary between the two countries from close to its source up to the milestone of the Garganta, receives affluents such as the Quebrada la Conquista, Río Oeste, Río Verde, Río San José, Quebrada la Garganta). In the western sector of the Park, important rivers and streams are born, such as the Jordan River, Talco River, and San Lorenzo River, which flow into the Margua River and finally into the Orinoco Basin.
The Tamá National Park water complex benefits the communities in agricultural activities and in the supply of water for the communal and municipal
aqueducts
Aqueduct may refer to:
Structures
*Aqueduct (bridge), a bridge to convey water over an obstacle, such as a ravine or valley
*Navigable aqueduct, or water bridge, a structure to carry navigable waterway canals over other rivers, valleys, railw ...
, and supplies the demand of more than 2,000,000 inhabitants located in territories of the states of Apure and Táchira in Venezuela and of the departments of Norte de Santander,
Boyacá and Arauca in Colombia.
References
Further reading
*
External links
*
Parque Nacional Natural Tamá
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tama National Natural Park
National parks of Colombia
Geography of Norte de Santander Department
Tourist attractions in Norte de Santander Department
1977 establishments in Colombia
Protected areas established in 1977