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Manuel Antonio
Manuel
Antonio Park
National Parks
and Reserves in Costa Rica. The protection of Costa Rica's natural
heritage is managed by the respective national parks and reserves.
These areas protect many species of mammals, birds, amphibians,
reptiles, fresh and salt water fish, and a vast number of identified
vascular plants-representing 4% of the world's total floral and
faunal species.
In addition,
these management groups protect examples of almost all the existing
natural habitats such as deciduous forests, mangrove swamps, rain
forests, herbaceous swamps, cloud forests, paramos, hilillo forests
and marshlands. They also protect areas of historical and archaeological
interest, such as pre-Columbian settlements and early battlefields,
as well as beautiful areas of scenic interest, such as beaches,
valleys and waterfalls. But above all, the areas of particular
interest to the conservationist are the zones which protect the
last remaining examples of Central American dry forest and the
beaches where the sea turtles nest.
For more info
check out www.manuelantoniopark.com
The Costa
Rica Tourist Board (ICT), as the entity in charge of tourist activities,
has assumed the task of seeing that tourism directly contributes
to conservation. To achieve this goal, ICT cooperates with other
State institutions such as the Ministry of Natural Resources,
Energy and Mines (MIRENEM)-whose National Parks Service manages
20 national parks, 8 biological reserves and a national monument.
In addition, the Forestry Service has responsibility for 27 protected
areas and 9 forest reserves while the Wildlife Office manages
9 wildlife refuges. The 74 units, covering an area 1,154,945 hectares,
represent 25% of the national territory (as of August, 1993),
which means that Costa Rica has a larger percentage of its total
area set aside in parks and preserves than any other country on
Earth.
The protection
of Costa Rica's natural resources has implications beyond its
borders because they encompass an incredible biodiversity, including
numerous species on the verge of extinction. All of this is the
reason the country has become one of the most popular destinations
for visiting ecologists and biologists.
On the whole,
access to these areas and facilities are freely available provided
the visitor respects the need to protect them. These protected
areas are ideal for hiking and rafting, for watching the birds
and other wildlife, for camping and just for enjoying in general,
their rivers, beaches, jungles, mountain forests, volcanoes as
well as their historic and archaeological sites.
A
tropical getaway at your pace
Costa
Rica Rentals Contact
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