Protected Areas in Central America

The Agua y Paz (Water and Peace) Biosphere Reserve is characterized by mountain ranges, volcanoes and plains. The reserve is comprised of eight core zones that are protected wildlife areas. Its natural riches include wetlands, navigable rivers and tropical humid forests.

The Alberto Manuel Brenes Biological Reserve is a nature reserve in the central part of Costa Rica. It is part of the Arenal Tilaran Conservation Area which protects tropical forest area near San Ramón.

The Apaneca-Ilamatepec Biosphere Reserve, located in El Salvador within the Central America Volcanic Arc, protects important ecosystems for species conservation. It hosts highly diverse habitats, such as páramo montane forests, cloud forests, conifer forests, and volcanic lava flow vegetation.

Arenal National Park is located in Alajuela province in northwestern Costa Rica. The park encompasses the Arenal Volcano, an active andesitic stratovolcano. It was Costa Rica's most active volcano until 2010 and one of the ten most active volcanoes in the world.

Barbilla National Park is located on the eastern slopes of the Cordillera de Talamanca in Costa Rica, within the Caribbean La Amistad Conservation Area. The park protects humid lowland rain forest along the Caribbean slopes of the Talamancan mountain range.

Barra Honda National Park is located in western Costa Rica and is part of the Tempisque Conservation Area. It was created in 1974 to protect its famous cave systems under the Barra Honda Peak which was formed when islets from the Miocene Era were raised above the plains of the river.

The coastal area of Belize is a natural system consisting of the largest barrier reef in the northern hemisphere, offshore atolls, several hundred sand cays, mangrove forests, coastal lagoons, and estuaries. The Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System’s seven sites are a significant habitat for threatened species.

The Bosawás Biosphere Reserve is located in the north of Nicaragua, next to the border with Honduras. Together with three neighboring protected areas of Honduras, it constitutes the largest protected area complex of tropical mountain moist forest north of the Amazon Basin.

Braulio Carrillo National Park is located in central Costa Rica within the volcanic Cordillera Central, in one of the areas with the steepest topography in the country. The landscape consists of densely-forested high mountains that include the Barva and Cacho Negro volcanoes, as well as canyons forged by several rivers.