A stunning green, the dizzying height of its trees and an elegant puma invite to enter his house, which hosts 2.5% of global biodiversity: The Corcovado National Park in Southern Costa Rica.
To reach the entrance of the trails there are no roads, you can only enter after a travel of nine hours by plane or by boat, however, don’t mind the journey, because everything around it creates a landscape that is worth admiring.
The National Geographic has called it “the most intense place on Earth, biologically speaking,” it is estimated that nowhere else, with a similar extent, accommodates as much biodiversity.
In Corcovado is 2.5% of the planet’s biodiversity and 50% of the species in Costa Rica.
“This is a unique park for two reasons, firstly because the percentage of biodiversity is very high in relation to its area and secondly it is the last piece of rainforest on the Pacific coast of Mesoamerica,” said Costa Rican biologist José Joaquín Ortiz.
The expert added, “On the atlantic coast is the Amazon, but on the Pacific is only Corcovado, which gives you a great value because it does not exist in Central or South America – an ecosystem like this near the coast.”
For his part, the guide Eliezer Arce said that Corcovado National Park “is relatively small for the large number of species living in the area. The biodiversity of this place is amazing.”
Located 350 kilometers from San Jose, in the peninsula Osa (South Pacific), the park has an enviable biodiversity.
It has 42,570 hectares of land and 5,375 hectares of sea, including coral reefs, mangroves and freshwater swamps.
On six trails, visitors can walk for about three hours or more, to immerse themselves in a world of scenic beauty adorned by cougars, four species of monkeys, snakes, jaguars, mountain tapirs and canchos, these last three animal endangered of extinction.
“Whoever visits is amazed, impressed by the diversity. Here with only a glance we can see 100 species and only some steps away we can find lots of other species, it is something foreigners love,” Ortiz said.
There are hundreds of species, including 140 mammals, representing 10 % of the continent ‘s mammal species and preserves the American Pacific ‘s largest primary forest.
In the voluptuousness of its 500 species of trees, Corcovado is home to 350 species of different birds, including parrots, brown pelicans, macaws, herons, egrets and blue owls.
Sirena rivers, Llorona, Molina and Madrigal nurture this space, which is a biological corridor for wildlife, where their blue colors are interwoven with green leaves.
In its hills and side slopes deposits and channels of rivers and streams gold can be found, the result of a process of mineralization.
Each year, about 34,000 people visit, mostly foreigners. However, arrivals need to be regulated so the park isn’t affected, as this is the most important thing is conservation.
“Corcovado is not a site that needs to be marketed, because it is already positioned. We ‘ll do a capability study and possibly we will have to regulate visitation, because we want to generate an impact,” states the guide Eliezer Arce.
The Corcovado National Park opens its wings so that everyone can enjoy its extravagant and imposing hundreds of species.
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