Peru is a country on the central western coast of South America facing the Pacific Ocean. It lies wholly in the Southern Hemisphere, its northernmost extreme reaching to 1.8 minutes of latitude or about 3.3 kilometres (2.1 mi) south of the equator. Peru shares land borders with Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, Bolivia, and Chile, with its longest land border shared with Brazil.
Piura is a coastal department and region in northwestern Peru. The region's capital is Piura and its largest port cities, Paita and Talara, are also among the most important in Peru. The area is known for its tropical and dry beaches. It is the most populous department in Peru, its twelfth smallest department, and its fourth-most densely populated department, after Tumbes, La Libertad, and Lambayeque.
Tumbes is a coastal department and region in northwestern Peru bordering Ecuador. Due to the region's location near the Equator it has a warm climate, with beaches that are considered among the finest in Peru. Despite its small area, the region contains a wide variety of ecosystems. It is the smallest department in Peru and its third least populous department after Moquegua and Madre de Dios, but it is also its third most densely populated department, after La Libertad and Lambayeque.
Contralmirante Villar is a province of the Tumbes Region in Peru. Its capital is the town of Zorritos.
Huascarán National Park is a Peruvian national park that comprises most of the mountain range known as Cordillera Blanca which is part of the central Andes, in the region of Ancash. The park covers an area of 340,000 ha and is managed by the Peruvian Network of Protected Natural Areas: SERNANP. It was designated as a World Heritage Site in 1985 by UNESCO, is also a well-known mountaineering spot and harbors a unique biodiversity with plant species such as the Queen of the Andes, trees of the genera Polylepis and Buddleja, and animals such as spectacled bears, condors, vicunas and tarucas.
Tumbes-Chocó-Magdalena is a biodiversity hotspot, which includes the tropical moist forests and tropical dry forests of the Pacific coast of South America and the Galapagos Islands. The region extends from easternmost Panama to the lower Magdalena Valley of Colombia, and along the Pacific coast of Colombia and Ecuador to the northwestern corner of Peru. Formerly called the Chocó-Darién-Western Ecuador Hotspot, it has been expanded to include several new areas, notably the Magdalena Valley in northern Colombia. It is bounded on the east by the Andes Mountains. The Tumbes-Choco-Magdalena Hotspot is 1,500 km long and encircles 274,597 km². Tumbes-Choco-Magdalena is near the Pacific Ocean. The factors that threaten Tumbes-Choco-Magdalena are farming encroachment, deforestation, illegal crops, and population growth. Whereas the Panamanian and Colombian portion of the hotspot are relatively intact, approximately 98% of native forest in coastal Ecuador has been cleared, rendering it the most threatened tropical forest in the world. The hotspot includes a wide variety of habitats, ranging from mangroves, beaches, rocky shorelines, and coastal wilderness to some of the world's wettest rain forests in the Colombian Chocó. The hotspot includes a number of ecoregions:
The Aparados da Serra National Park is a national park located in the Serra Geral range of Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina states in the south of Brazil, between 29º07’—29º15’ S and 50º01’—50º10’ W. It was created in 1959 as one of Brazil's first national parks, to protect the Itaimbezinho canyon. It extends over an area of 10,250 hectares.
Chirripó National Park is a national park of Costa Rica, encompassing parts of three provinces: San José, Limón and Cartago. It was established in 1975.
The Morropón Province is one of eight provinces of the Piura Region in Peru. The province was created in 1936. Its administrative center is in the town of Chulucanas.
Cutervo National Park , established in 1961, is the oldest protected area in Peru. It is located in the northern Peruvian Andes, in the region of Cajamarca. The park was extended to 8,214 hectares (31.71 sq mi) and protects areas of Andean montane forests and paramo for headwater conservation. Moreover, those areas are the habitat of animal species like the spectacled bear, the mountain tapir, and the oilbird; and plant species like the Andean wax palms.
Lagunas de Mejía National Sanctuary is a protected area on the coastal plain of Peru, in Islay Province, Arequipa, in the mouth of the Tambo River. It is a sanctuary for migratory and resident birds, and was designated a Ramsar site in 1992.
Manglares de Tumbes National Sanctuary is a protected natural area located in the region of Tumbes, Peru. Established in 1988, it protects the largest area of mangrove forest in Peru.
The Alto Mayo Protection Forest is an area of protected forest land in northern Peru. It is located in Rioja and Moyobamba provinces within the region of San Martin, with a small part in Rodriguez de Mendoza province, in the region of Amazonas. This area preserves a portion of the tropical yungas forest in the upper Mayo River basin, while protecting soil and water from erosion by deforestation, as the area is the water supply of populations in the Mayo valley.
El Angolo is a game reserve in northern Peru. It is considered part of the Noroeste Biosphere Reserve, which includes Cerros de Amotape National Park and Tumbes National Reserve, as declared by UNESCO in 1977.
Tumbes National Reserve is a protected area established in 2006 and located in the region of Tumbes, Peru; near the border with Ecuador. It spans an area of 751 km2 (290 sq mi) and along with Cerros de Amotape National Park and El Angolo Game Preserve is part of the Noroeste Biosphere Reserve designated by UNESCO.
Alto Purús National Park is a national park in the Amazon rainforest of Peru, established in 2004. It covers an area of 2,510,694.41 ha (9,693.85 sq mi) in the provinces of Purús (Ucayali), Tahuamanu and Tambopata.
Bosque de Pómac Historic Sanctuary is a protected area in Peru located in the region of Lambayeque. This area preserves part of the Tumbes-Piura dry forests and several pyramids built by Pre-Columbian cultures.
The Ecuadorian dry forests (NT0214) is an ecoregion near the Pacific coast of the Ecuador. The habitat has been occupied by people for centuries and has been severely damaged by deforestation, overgrazing and hillside erosion due to unsustainable agriculture. Only 1% of the original forest remains. The patches of forest, mostly secondary growth, are fragmented. They are home to many endemic species at risk of extinction.
The Tumbes–Piura dry forests (NT0232) is an arid tropical ecoregion along the Pacific coasts of southern Ecuador and northern Peru. The ecoregion contains many endemic species of flora and birds adapted to the short wet season followed by a long dry season. Threats include extraction of wood for fuel or furniture, and capture of wild birds for sale.
