El Salvador has 5 national parks conserving a wide range of plant and animal species across several types of ecosystems including Pacific beaches, coastal wetlands, mountainous rainforests, and rugged volcanic peaks.
Understand
[edit]National parks and protected areas in El Salvador are areas that connect tourism interests with scientific understanding of our natural environment. Visitors understand the natural world by walking through different ecosystems and observing the natural world around them. The national parks are areas that protect wildlife and natural resources from the negative impacts of human activity. Each of the national parks was designated in recognition of their importance to the country as a whole, not only for their scenic beauty, but for their ecological, scientific, educational, and cultural value.
El Salvador's parks preserve a variety of distinct eco-systems including volcanoes, forests, wetlands, rivers and provide critical habitat for wildlife.
Parks and protected natural areas are administered for the government by the Ministerio de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales.
In addition to the national parks, El Salvador has part of the UNESCO Trifinio Fraternidad Biosphere Reserve, which also includes sectors in neighboring Guatemala and Honduras. El Salvador's portion of the biosphere reserve is the Montecristo National Park.
Parks
[edit]All of El Salvador's national parks are located in the western region of the country. National parks in El Salvador include:
- El Boqueron National Park (Crater del Volcán de San Salvador)
- El Imposible National Park
- Los Volcanes National Park (Cerro Verde National Park)
- Montecristo National Park
- San Diego and San Felipe Las Barras National Park
Other protected areas
[edit]- San Isidro Natural Monument
- Volcán de San Miguel Protected Area
- Isla Martin Pérez Protected Area
- Isla Tasajera Protected Area
- Isla Conchaguita Protected Area
- Isla Meanguera Protected Area
- Isla Zacatillo Protected Area
- Walter Tilo Deininger Park
- Laguna de Las Ninfas Protected Area