Noroeste Amotapes-Manglares Biosphere Reserve (Peru)

Noroeste Amotapes-Manglares Biosphere Reserve (Peru)

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The Noroeste Amotapes-Manglares Biosphere Reserve is located on the northern coast of Peru and covers part of the Ecuadorian dry forest in the tropical Pacific. It includes Cerros de Amotape National Park, Coto de Caza El Angolo (a game reserve), and Tumbes Mangroves Protected Area.

Noroeste Amotapes-Manglares Biosphere Reserve

The Noroeste Amotapes-Manglares Biosphere Reserve is located on the northern coast of Peru in the Tumbes and Piura departments. The area covers part of the Ecuadorian dry forest in the tropical Pacific with high flora and fauna biodiversity.

The Noroeste Amotapes-Manglares Biosphere Reserve also includes Cerros de Amotape National Park, the Coto de Caza El Angolo (El Angolo Game Reserve) and the Tumbes Mangroves Protected Area.

In 2017, the Noroeste Amotapes-Manglares Biosphere Reserve was joined with Bosque Seco Biosphere Reserve in Ecuador to form the new Bosques de Paz Transboundary Biosphere Reserve.

The relief in the Noroeste Amotapes-Manglares Biosphere Reserve is very varied and is covered by formations of matorral, very dry forest, dry and tropical submontane forest, with (Prosopis juliflora), (Bombax sp.), (Tillandsia sp.), and mangroves of Tumbes.

The Biosphere Reserve also contains endangered fauna species such as Crocodylus acutus, iguanas (Iguana iguana), birds such as the Vultur gryphus, Sarcoramphus papa, and Burhinus superciliaris, and mammals as Odocoileus virginianus, Tayassu tajacu, and Felis concolor.

Over 480 inhabitants live in the Biosphere Reserve, engaged in agriculture, cattle raising, and tourism (mainly in the buffer zones), generating the principal income and benefits to local communities.

The main goal of the Noroeste Amotapes-Manglares Biosphere Reserve is to protect ecosystems and important endangered forest fauna and flora species. Environmental education efforts have been supported, as well as conservation and research on natural resources.

Cerros de Amotape National Park

Cerros de Amotape National Park is a protected area located in the provinces of Tumbes and Contralmirante Villar in the region of Tumbes and the province of Sullana in the region of Piura.

The National Park has an area of 151,561 ha (374,515 acres), including the Cordillera de los Amotapes mountain range and the Tumbes River, the only navigable river on the Peruvian coast. The park has an elevational range between 120 m and 1538 m (393 ft and 5,046 ft).

Cerros de Amotape National Park protects a portion of the Tumbes-Piura dry forests ecoregion and the southern reaches of the Pacific Tropical Forest.

Among the trees found in this area are: ceibo(Ceiba trichistandra), algarrobo (Prosopis pallida), angolo (Albizia multiflora), cedro (Cedrela sp.), ébano (Ziziphus thyrsiflora), guayacán (Tabebuia billbergii), madero (Tabebuia chrysantha), hualtaco (Loxopterygium huasango), palo santo (Bursera graveolens), etc.

Some of the mammals found in this area are the red brocket, the Guayaquil squirrel, the neotropical otter, the white-tailed deer, the mantled howler, the white-fronted capuchin, the ocelot and the jaguar. The park is home to the endangered American crocodile.

A total of 111 bird species have been registered in the park, including the grey-backed hawk, the grey-cheeked parakeet, the blackish-headed spinetail and the slaty becard.

Coto de Caza El Angolo (El Angolo Game Reserve)

Coto de Caza El Angolo spans an area of 65,000 ha (160,600 acres) in the region of Piura, Peru. Its elevational range is 200 - 1200 m (656 - 3,937 ft) above sea level.

El Angolo Game Reserve protects part of the seasonally dry tropical forests, an endangered ecosystem of which only 5% is under protection in Peru.

Among the plant species present in the area are: angolo (Albizia multiflora), algarrobo (Prosopis pallida), ceibo (Ceiba& trischistandra), frejolillo (Erythrina smithiana), overo (Cordia lutea), hualtaco (Loxopterygium huasango), almendro (Geoffroea spinosa), pasallo (Eriotheca ruizii), palo santo (Bursera graveolens), cedro (Cedrela sp.), Terminalia valverdeae, Ficus pertusa, etc.

The white-tailed deer is the only species managed as a game animal in this protected area. Mammals protected in the Biosphere Reserve include the cougar, the jaguar, the puma, the northern tamandua, the Guayaquil squirrel, the Sechuran fox, etc.

Among the birds reported in the area are the Andean tinamou, the Pacific pygmy owl, the pale-browed tinamou, the king vulture, the Tumbes sparrow, the red-masked parakeet, the Andean condor, the great egret, the cocoi heron, the ochre-bellied dove, the long-billed starthroat, etc.

Manglares de Tumbes National Sanctuary

The Manglares de Tumbes National Sanctuary is a protected natural area located in the region of Tumbes, Peru. Established in 1988, it protects Peru's largest area of mangrove forest.

This protected area is located in Zarumilla Province, Tumbes, close to the border with Ecuador. With an area of 29.72 sq km (11.47 sq mi), it harbors the largest mangrove forest in Peru.

Five species of mangrove dominate the area: black mangrove (Avicennia germinans), white mangrove (Laguncularia racemosa), button mangrove (Conocarpus erectus) and two species of red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle and Rhizophora harrisonii).

Seasonally dry forest and scrubland can also be found in some parts of the sanctuary; tree species representative of this ecosystem are Pithecellobium excelsum, Cordia lutea, Mimosa acantholoba, Parkinsonia praecox, Ceiba trischistandra, Loxopterygium huasango, Bursera graveolens, Cochlospermum sp., Prosopis pallida, Capparis scabrida.

Seasonal herbaceous species found here are Aristida adscencionis, Bouteloua aristidoides, Stylosanthes sp., Crotalaria sp., Tephrosia cinerea, Cyperus sp., Scirpus sp., Distichlis spicata, Antephora hermaphrodita, Paspalum racemosum, Ipomoea sp., Bidens pilosa, among others.

The Manglares de Tumbes National Sanctuary protects 148 species of birds, being some of them the yellow-crowned night heron, the rufous-necked wood rail, the American yellow warbler and the American white ibis.

The sanctuary also protects 105 fish species, plus some other 40 migrant species. Also, 33 snail species, 34 crustacean species, 24 bivalve species and 9 reptile species are found in the sanctuary.

Mammals found in the area include the crab-eating raccoon, the silky anteater and the neotropical otter.