Protected Areas in the Caribbean

Alejandro de Humboldt National Park is the most significant and best-conserved remnant of forested mountain ecosystems in the Caribbean region. This World Heritage site is considered Cuba's most important protected area because of its extraordinary biodiversity values.

The Archipelago of San Andres, Providencia, and Santa Catalina is located in the western sector of the Caribbean Sea and belongs to the Republic of Colombia. The entire collection of 10 or so small coral atolls and a marine area was declared the Seaflower Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO.

Arikok National Park occupies nearly twenty percent of the total land area of Aruba. It was formed to protect and preserve the flora, fauna, geology, and historical remains present. The National Park hosts three primary geological formations and a variety of habitats.

The Baconao Biosphere Reserve is situated in southeastern Cuba, between Santiago de Cuba and the province of Guantanamo, and includes three well-defined biogeographic zones. The area is a large park region with various attractions in addition to wildlife refuges and coffee plantations.

The Blue and John Crow Mountains encompass a rugged and forested mountainous region in southeast Jamaica, which provided refuge first for the indigenous Tainos fleeing slavery and then for the formerly enslaved Maroons. It is a biodiversity hotspot for the Caribbean and a National Park.

The Bonaire National Marine Park is the oldest marine reserve in the world. It includes the waters around Bonaire and Klein Bonaire's reef-lined coasts, home to virtually every hard and soft coral species in the Caribbean Sea.

Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park is a fortress on a hill on the island of St. Christopher (St. Kitts). It is one of the best-preserved historical fortifications in the Americas and an example of European colonial expansion, the African slave trade, and the emergence of new societies in the Caribbean region.

Caguanes National Park is established around the Caguanes Peninsula on the northern coast of Cuba and is the core area of the Buenavista Biosphere Reserve. The protected area includes coral reefs, rocky beaches, evergreen coastal forests, and mangroves.

Ciénaga de Zapata (Zapata Swamp) is located within the Zapata Peninsula on the southern coast of Cuba. Both a National Park and Biosphere Reserve, it is one of the largest and most important wetlands in the Caribbean region with a marine borderline.

The Cuchillas del Toa Biosphere Reserve is located in the northeastern region of Cuba. It protects tropical wet forests and coastal/marine ecosystems within the mountain region of Sagua-Garacoa and much of the Toa River watershed. It is considered one of Cuba's principal centers of biodiversity and endemism.