Los Nevados National Natural Park

Los Nevados National Natural Park
Parque Nacional Natural Los Nevados
IUCN category II (national park)
Aerial view of Los Nevados National Park
Map showing the location of Los Nevados National Natural Park
Location Caldas, Risaralda, Quindío and Tolima, Colombia
Nearest city Armenia - Ibagué - Manizales - Pereira
Coordinates 4°48′00″N 75°22′00″W / 4.8°N 75.366667°W / 4.8; -75.366667Coordinates: 4°48′00″N 75°22′00″W / 4.8°N 75.366667°W / 4.8; -75.366667
Area 58,300 hectares (225 sq mi)
Established 1973
Visitors 39,904 (in 2016)
Governing body SINAP
Website

Los Nevados National Natural Park (Spanish: Parque Nacional Natural Los Nevados) is a national park located in the Cordillera Central of the Colombian Andes. The 5,300-metre-high (17,400 ft) volcano Nevado del Ruiz dominates Los Nevados. Out of the 59 protected areas in Colombia,[1] Los Nevados National Natural Park was the fourth most visited in 2016, with 39,904 visitors. The most visited was the Rosario and San Bernardo Corals National Natural Park followed by the Tayrona National Natural Park.

General

In addition to Nevado del Ruiz, seven other volcanoes are located in the area: Nevado del Tolima, Santa Isabel, Nevado del Quindío, Paramillo de Santa Rosa, Cerro Bravo, Cerro Machín and Nevado El Cisne.

Glacial activity has shaped the landscape 3,000 m (9,800 ft) above mean sea level, leaving U-shaped valleys and moraines behind. Extrusive igneous rock is dominant above 3,500 m (11,500 ft) on the eastern slope and 2,200 m (7,200 ft) on the western slope.[2] The Otún Lake, which lies in an extinct volcano crater,[3] and the Green Lake are located in the area.

The park's hydrographic networks supply water to over 2,000,000 coffee-growers in the region and to most of the rice and cotton crops in the Tolima Department.[3]

The park is located in the departments of Caldas, Quindío, Risaralda, Tolima and divided in the municipalities Villamaría, Santa Rosa de Cabal, Pereira, Salento, and Ibagué.

Flora and fauna

The area is home to 1250 species of vascular plants, 200 bryophytes, 300 lichens and 180 macroscopic fungi.[2]

On the lower slopes and in the valleys the Andean wax palms are dominant. The upper Andean forest has trees reaching up to 30 m (98 ft) in height.[3]

Noteworthy birds include blue-crowned motmot, yellow-eared parrot, Fuertes's parrot, rufous-fronted parakeet, Andean condor, brown-banded antpitta and ruddy duck. The bearded helmetcrest hummingbird is endemic to the region.[2][3][4] Noteworthy mammals include the mountain tapir, spectacled bear, northern pudú, oncilla, cougar and white-eared opossum.[3]

Footnotes

  1. ↑ "Registro Único Nacional de Áreas Protegias – RUNAP | Parques Nacionales Naturales de Colombia". www.parquesnacionales.gov.co (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-05-05.
  2. 1 2 3 Rangel-Ch., J. Orlando; Garzón-C., Aída (1997). "Region of Los Nevados Natural National Park". In Davis, S.D.; Heywood, V.H.; Herrera-MacBryde, O.; Villa-Lobos, J.; Hamilton, A. Centres of Plant Diversity: A Guide and Strategy for Their Conservation. Volume 3: The Americas. Cambridge, England: World Wide Fund for Nature, International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. ISBN 2-8317-0199-6. Archived from the original on 9 July 2010. Retrieved 11 July 2010. .
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Nature & Science Los Nevados". Parques Nacionales Naturales de Colombia. Archived from the original on 7 July 2011. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
  4. ↑ IUCN 1982, p. 144

References

  • IUCN (1982), IUCN directory of neotropical protected areas (in Spanish and English), IUCN, ISBN 978-0-907567-62-2.
  • Villegas, Benjamin; Sesana, Laura (2007), Colombia Natural Parks, Villegas Asociados, ISBN 978-958-8156-87-3.

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