Costa Rica's Protect Areas
The national parks and equivalent reserves of Costa Rica protect the
best of the country’s natural and cultural heritage. These outstanding
wilderness areas preserve a large number of the species found in the
country: 205 mammals, 845 of birds, 160 of amphibians, 218 of reptiles
and 1,013 of salt and freshwater fish. They also preserve most of the
approximately 10,000 species of vascular plants identified in Costa
Rica, which is almost 4% of the total number of species that exist in
the world. Furthermore, they protect almost all of the existing
habitats, such as deciduous forest, mangrove swamp, rain forest,
herbaceous swamp, cloud forest, paramo, holillo forest, oak grove, coral
reef, riparian forest and swamp forest.
It is also important to point out that the national parks and equivalent reserves have areas of
geological and geophysical interest, such as active volcanoes, hot
springs, caves and relict mountains as the result of plate tectonics
setting; areas of historic and archaeological interest, such as
battlefields and pre-Columbian settlements; areas of scenic beauty, such
as beaches and waterfalls; and areas of great importance to
conservation, such as islands where the brown pelican and magnificent
frigate bird nest, or enclaves with the last remaining stands of
Mesoamerican dry forest, or beaches where huge sea turtles nest.
The national parks of Costa Rica provide a refuge for various species of
endangered plants and animals of Neotropical America that live in a
restricted area or are endemic to the country. Some of these plants are
huge trees, such as the chiricano, rosewood, purpleheart, mahogany,
Panama redwood and gonzalo-alves. The animals include such species as
Baird’s tapir, the jaguar, ocelot, puma, giant anteater, squirrel
monkey, golden toad, American crocodile, West Indian manatee,
leatherback turtle, jabiru and Cocos Island finch.
The Costa Rican system of national parks and equivalent reserves
consists of approximately 12.2% of the national territory. Because of
the remarkable diversity and biological wealth found in these wilderness
areas, they have become the new travel destination for ecotourists,
naturalists, and researchers, who wish to admire and study the
exuberance of tropical nature in Costa Rica.
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