Tortuguero
The National Park Tortuguero is found in the coast of the Caribbean, province of Limon, approximately 80km al northeastern of the city of the same name. It was established by means of the Law Not. 5680 of November 17, 1975. Counts on an area of 18.946.9 hectares in the terrestrial part and 52.265 in the marine part.
Is the most important area of all the western half of the Caribbean, for the spawning of the green tortoise. Other species of marine tortoises that also spawn in the beach are the tortoise baula and the tortoiseshell.
The park is crossed for a sytem natural of gaps and navigable channels of great scenic beauty and they are the terrestrial tortoises species habitat, of the manatee or marine cow, of the crocodile, of great diversity of crustaceans and of some 52 species of freshwater fish, including the fish gaspar.
It was created to protect the flora and fauna of this region, as well as for facilitate investigations, scientific studies and to favor the environmental education.
Three zones of life exist: very humid tropical forest, forest mountaineer humid transition to basal and the humid tropical forest. It includes eight types of greater associations (trees, bushes and herbs) and three smaller associations (herbs in its greater part).
The coastal vegetation with predominance of grasses, the humid forest with abundance of strata and vertical, sotobosque dense and various characterized by ferns, the palm white and several species of anonáceas, forests on hills, the yolillales, constituted mainly by the palm yolillo and located in the central sector of the park, herbaceous swamps formed by herbaceous plants of haste 2 meters of height and herbaceous communities on gaps with floating vegetation The choreja or lily of water; they are some of the most outstanding vegetable associations of the park.
Tortuguero is one of the rainiest zones of the country, between 5.000 and 6.000 mm al year. Two types of rain can be distinguished: the local rainstorms of short term that are the most frequent, and the characteristic temporary of the Caribbean that are prolonged to 15 days. These last they are caused by the winds of north and northwest.
The most characteristic species of flora are: the male cedar, the hawk, the pillar, the javillo black, the golden fruit, the manú, the maría, the camphor, the canfín, the cativo, the palm yolillo, the palm suita, the real palm and the choreja or lily of water. The choreja forms at times so compact masses that can impede the navigation.
The fauna is rich and diverse. Among the most outstanding one we find the tapir, the jaguar, the manigordo, the saíno, the cute congo, the cute one carablanca, the red monkey or spider, the lazy one, the tepescuinte, the coatimundi, the raccoon, hammers it, the otter, the tolomuco, the bat fisherman that is one of the largest of the country and is fed of fish that captures with its strong legs and nails when flies over on the surface of the Frog calf, the frog of glass reticulada whose internal organs are seen bias of its transparent skin; the poisonous frog or sapito red, whose skin is toxic.
Some of the birds protected they are the green limpet, species in danger of extinction, the peacock, the zopilote cabecirrojo, the hawk cangrejero, the trogón violáceo and the golden oriole of montezuma. Besides, of the tortoise baula, the tortoiseshell and the green tortoise; the tortoise black turtle, is very common in the channels from Moín to Torguguero.