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Serrania de Chiribiquete National Natural Park

November 17, 2020

It is located in the Colombian Amazon region (RAC), in the departments of Caquetá and Guaviare, representing one of the geographical areas with high biological diversity in the world (National Parks of Colombia, 2020).

Index

How to get to PNN Serranía de Chiribiquete?

Map of Sierra deChiribiquete National Natural Park.
Source: Lencer, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

It is a little explored territory and commercial flights do not arrive.

“To get to the north side of the massif, you must go up the Apoporis river to the confluence of the Macayá and Ajajú rivers. To enter from the south, from Araracuara you navigate the Yarí and Mesay rivers. Eventually, also along the Cañaré river.” The tour takes about two days.

Colparques Organization, 2020, s/p.

History of the National Park

This national natural park…

“…it was reserved, aligned and declared through Agreement No. 0045 of September 21, 1989, of the Board of Directors of the National Institute of Renewable Natural Resources and the Environment -INDERENA- (…) and approved through Executive Resolution No. 120 of 21 September 1989, issued by the Ministry of Agriculture…”

Through Resolution No. 1,038 of August 21, 2013 of the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, it reached an area of approximately 2,782,354 hectares.

Thus, its territory was extended to the municipalities of Cartagena del Chairá, San Vicente del Caguán and Solano in Caquetá, and Calamar in the department of Guaviare.

More recently, a new expansion was carried out in the municipalities of San José del Guaviare, Miraflores and Calamar in Guaviare; and in San Vicente del Caguán and Solano in the department of Caquetá, with resolution 1,256 of July 10, 2018, under the mandate of the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development-MADS (National Parks of Colombia, 2020).

Fauna

The Serranía de Chiribiquete National Natural Park has the representative fauna of the Amazon region, highlighting the jaguar, the tapirand the harpy eagle.

Harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja)

Flora

10 timber trees from the Amazon Rainforest

Medicinal plants of the Amazon Rainforest

Amazon Rainforest Poisonous Plants

On the other hand, different biomes are found in the park area such as savannah areas, floodplain forests, terra firme forests and tepui forests (Fundación Aquae, 2020).

A tepui in the Chiribiquete National Natural Park.
Source: Carlos Castaño Uribe, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Due to its high importance as a natural reservoir, in 2018 the Serranía de Chiribiquete National Natural Park was recognized by UNESCO as a mixed heritage of humanity (cultural and natural), being the first place in Colombia to obtain this distinction.

Its territory now reaches 4,268,095 protected hectares, representing a great contribution to the preservation of biodiversity and natural ecosystems, as well as its cultural expressions.

cave art

“In its tepuyes, more than 50 panels with an average height of 7 meters have been identified, with approximately 70,000 cave art paintings.”

Foreign Ministry of Colombia, 2018, s/p.

In more than 36 rock shelters, more than 250,000 Amazon rock pictographs have been identified; the oldest with more than 19,500 years (Aquae Foundation, 2020).

Petroglyph in the Chiribiquete National Natural Park.
Source: Carlos Castaño Uribe, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Petroglyph in the Chiribiquete National Natural Park
Source: Carlos Castaño Uribe, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Petroglyph in the Chiribiquete National Natural Park
Source: Carlos Castaño Uribe, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Petroglyph in the Chiribiquete National Natural Park.
Source: Carlos Castaño Uribe, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

References

  • Cancillería de Colombia. (2 de julio de 2018). Chiribiquete es declarado Patrimonio Mixto de la Humanidad por la Unesco y se amplía a 4.268.095 hectáreas, recuperado de https://www.cancilleria.gov.co/en/newsroom/news/chiribiquete-declarado-patrimonio-mixto-humanidad-unesco-amplia-4268095-hectareas.
  • Fundación Aquae. 2010. El parque nacional más grande de Colombia, recuperado de https://www.fundacionaquae.org/sierra-chiribiquete-parque-nacional-mas-grande-colombia/
  • Organización Colparques. 2020. Serranía de Chiribiquete. Patrimonio arqueológico, recuperado de http://www.colparques.net/CHIRIBIQUETE1#popup1.
  • Parques Nacionales Naturales de Colombia. 2020. Parque Nacional Natural Serranía de Chiribiquete, recuperado de https://www.parquesnacionales.gov.co/portal/es/parques-nacionales/parque-nacional-natural-chiribiquete/

This post is also available in: Español (Spanish)

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