Protected Areas in Central America

The Poás Volcano is an active stratovolcano in north-central Costa Rica with the world's second-largest volcanic crater. The volcano is located in Poás Volcano National Park, part of the Cordillera Volcánica Central Biosphere Reserve.

Rincón de la Vieja Volcano National Park spans over 34,000 acres in northwestern Costa Rica and helps protect montane and dwarf cloud forests. Rincón de la Vieja Volcano, an active andesitic complex volcano, is set within the park and is one of six active Costa Rican volcanoes.

Located on the watershed of the Río Plátano, the Biosphere Reserve and World Heritage Site is one of the few remnants of tropical rainforest in Central America. With a diverse abundance of plants and wildlife within its landscape, over 2,000 indigenous people have preserved their traditional way of life.

The Río San Juan Biosphere Reserve comprises seven protected areas. It covers an important variety of ecosystems representative of tropical humid forests and wetlands, tidal marshes, coastal lagoons and estuaries which are essential shelters for rare or threatened animals and plants.

The San Marcos de Colón Biosphere Reserve is situated close to the border with Nicaragua, in the Honduran department of Choluteca, at an altitude varying between 1,600 and 5,600 ft. It exhibits a rich biological diversity that includes several species of endemic fauna.

Santa Rosa National Park, the first national park established in Costa Rica, was initially created to protect the site of the Battle of Santa Rosa. Today it protects some of the world's last remaining tropical dry forests. It is part of the Area de Conservación Guanacaste World Heritage Site.

The Savegre Biosphere Reserve is located on Costa Rica's central Pacific coast and borders two other biosphere reserves in the north and east. Due to its varied topography and its heterogeneity of microclimates, it is one of the most biodiverse sites in the country.

The Sierra de las Minas runs east to west through the Guatemalan Highlands in the country's southeast. The Sierra de las Minas Biosphere Reserve contains a substantial part of the range and an estimated 60 percent of Guatemala’s remaining cloud forest.

The Solentiname Islands are an archipelago located in the southeastern part of Lake Nicaragua. They are made up of four larger islands: Mancarroncito, Mancarrón, San Fernando and La Venada. Along with some 32 smaller islands with rocky headlands, they afford shelter to numerous aquatic birds.

Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park protects the lush northern slopes of the Cordillera de Talamanca in central Costa Rica and its diverse ecosystems and life zones. The highest point of the Pan-American Highway occurs at the Cerro de la Muerte.