Tatamá National Natural Park (

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 ...

: ''Parque Nacional Natural Tatamá'' or ''PNN Tatamá'') 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 Cordillera Occidental,

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

. Established in 1987, the park encompasses of primary west-Andean tropical and subtropical rainforest, temperate cloud forest, and páramo habitat in an area that spans the departments of Risaralda, Chocó and Valle del Cauca, within the Chocó bioregion. The protected area is of high scientific interest because of its rich biodiversity and the unique state of conservation of its ecosystems. The park is home to tributaries of the

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John (disambiguation), Saint John, most commonly refers to: * San Juan, Puerto Rico * San Juan, Argentina * San Juan, Metro Manila, a highly urbanized city in the Philippines San Juan may also refer to: Places Arge ...

and Cauca Rivers and, in its highest elevation area, to Páramo Tatamá, which along Frontino and El Duende, represents one of the only three

páramos Páramos may refer to: * Páramos (comarca), a comarca in Spain * Páramos, Venezuela, a region in the Cordillera de Mérida The Cordillera de Mérida is a mountain range, or massif, in northwestern Venezuela. The Cordillera de Mérida is a nort ...

in Colombia that have not been altered by humans. Cerro Tatamá, the highest peak in the Cordillera Occidental, reaching an elevation of , lies within the park.

Flora and fauna

Over 560 species of orchids can be found in the park, many of which are endemic to the area (such as the Montezuma maxillaria). The protected area is also a popular birding destination in Colombia with more than 620 bird species recorded, including 16 endemic to Colombia (of which seven are only found in the western Cordillera): * Colombian Chachalaca * Chestnut Wood-Quail * Dusky Starfrontlet * Grayish Piculet * Yellow-eared Parrot * Parker's Antbird * Chamí Antpitta * Tatama Tapaculo *

Munchique Wood-Wren The Munchique wood wren (''Henicorhina negreti'') is a member of the wren family ( Troglodytidae) that was described as new to science in 2003. It is found in the Western Andes of Colombia. Taxonomy and systematics The Munchique wood wren wa ...

* Red-bellied Grackle * Crested Ant-Tanager * Black-and-Gold Tanager *

Gold-ringed Tanager The gold-ringed tanager (''Bangsia aureocincta'') is a species of bird in the family Thraupidae, endemic to Colombia. It is a plump, relatively short-tailed tanager with a distinctive gold ring around its face. It inhabits a narrow band of high-a ...

* Multicolored Tanager * Turquoise Dacnis * Chestnut-bellied Flowerpiercer

Access

The park can only be accessed via Montezuma Road (

: Camino de Montezuma), a dirt road that starts in the town of Pueblo Rico and winds up Cerro Montezuma to a military base at its summit, . The Montezuma Rainforest Ecolodge property (), located near the entrance of the park, is the main gateway to the protected area.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tatamá National Natural Park National parks of Colombia Nature reserves in Colombia Protected areas established in 1987 1987 establishments in Colombia Northwestern Andean montane forests