Turquino National Park

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Turquino National Park
Parque Nacional Turquino
IUCN category II (national park)
Cuba physical map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location of Turquino National Park in Santiago de Cuba Province, Cuba
Location Santiago de Cuba Province, Cuba
Nearest city Guamá
Coordinates 19°59′22″N76°50′9″W / 19.98944°N 76.83583°W / 19.98944; -76.83583 Coordinates: 19°59′22″N76°50′9″W / 19.98944°N 76.83583°W / 19.98944; -76.83583
Area229.38 km2 (88.56 sq mi) [1]
EstablishedJanuary 8, 1980 [2]

Turquino National Park, also known as Sierra Maestra National Park, is a national park in Santiago de Cuba Province, southeastern Cuba.

National park Park used for conservation purposes of animal life and plants

A national park is a park in use for conservation purposes. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently, there is a common idea: the conservation of 'wild nature' for posterity and as a symbol of national pride.

Santiago de Cuba Province Province of Cuba

Santiago de Cuba Province is the second most populated province in the island of Cuba. The largest city Santiago de Cuba is the main administrative center. Other large cities include Palma Soriano, Contramaestre, San Luis and Songo-la Maya.

Cuba Country in the Caribbean

Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is a country comprising the island of Cuba as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located in the northern Caribbean where the Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean meet. It is east of the Yucatán Peninsula (Mexico), south of both the U.S. state of Florida and the Bahamas, west of Haiti and north of both Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. Havana is the largest city and capital; other major cities include Santiago de Cuba and Camagüey. The area of the Republic of Cuba is 110,860 square kilometers (42,800 sq mi). The island of Cuba is the largest island in Cuba and in the Caribbean, with an area of 105,006 square kilometers (40,543 sq mi), and the second-most populous after Hispaniola, with over 11 million inhabitants.

Contents

Geography

Cuban moist forests in Turquino National Park. 2012-02-Sierra Maestra Turquino Nationalpark Kuba 05 anagoria.JPG
Cuban moist forests in Turquino National Park.

The park is located in the Sierra Maestra mountain range. It is 50 km (31 mi) west of Guamá, in Guamá Municipality of Santiago de Cuba Province.

Sierra Maestra Mountain range of Cuba

Sierra Maestra is a mountain range that runs westward across the south of the old Oriente Province in southeast Cuba, rising abruptly from the coast. The Sierra Maestra itself is located mainly in Santiago de Cuba Province and in Granma Province. Some view it as a series of connecting ranges, which joins with others extending to the west. The Sierra Maestra is the highest area of Cuba. It is rich in minerals, especially copper, manganese, chromium, and iron. At 1,974 m (6,476 ft), Pico Turquino is the range's highest point.

Guamá, Cuba Municipality in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba

Guamá is a municipality in the Santiago de Cuba Province of Cuba. The municipal seat is located in the town of Chivirico. It was named after Guamá, the Taíno cacique who led a rebellion against the Spanish 1530s.

The park protects a total area of 229.38 km2 (88.56 sq mi). [1] It was established on January 8, 1980, with the passing of bill 27/1980. [2]

The park was named for Pico Turquino, the highest point in Cuba at 1,975 m (6,480 ft) in elevation. Other mountains in Turquino National Park include Pico Cuba, Pico Real, and Pico Suecia.

Pico Turquino Mountain in Cuba

Pico Turquino is the highest point in Cuba. It is located in the southeast part of the island, in the Sierra Maestra mountain range in the municipality of Guamá, Santiago de Cuba Province.

The Sierra Maestra mountains with Cuban pine forests in the park. 2012-02-Sierra Maestra Turquino Nationalpark Kuba 02 anagoria.JPG
The Sierra Maestra mountains with Cuban pine forests in the park.
Las Cuevas trailhead at the coast. Las Cuevas trailhead.jpg
Las Cuevas trailhead at the coast.

Ecology

The park has tropical forest habitats, including the lower elevation Cuban moist forests and higher elevation Cuban pine forests ecoregions.

Tropical forest generic forest in the tropics

Tropical forests are forested landscapes in tropical regions: i.e. land areas approximately bounded by the tropic of Cancer and Capricorn, but possibly affected by other factors such as prevailing winds.

Cuban moist forests

The Cuban moist forests are a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion that occupies 21,400 km2 on Cuba and Isla de la Juventud. The ecoregion receives more than 2,000 mm (79 in) of rainfall annually, and does not have a dry season. Soils are usually derived from quartz, limestone, or serpentinites. Cuban moist forests can be differentiated into lowland forests, sub-montane forests, and montane forests.

Cuban pine forests

The Cuban pine forests are a tropical coniferous forest ecoregion on the Caribbean islands of Cuba and Isla de la Juventud. They cover an area of 6,400 km2 (2,500 sq mi), occurring in separate sections in eastern Cuba and western Cuba and Isla de la Juventud.

The park's area includes a section of Cuba's southeastern coast habitat, at the beach of Marea del Portillo.

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 National Protected Areas System of Cuba. "Protected Areas". Archived from the original on 2007-08-10. Retrieved 2007-10-10.
  2. 1 2 Radio Habana. "Parque Nacional Sierra Maestra" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2007-10-04. Retrieved 2007-10-10.


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