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Serrania de la Macarena


Serrania de la Macarena (Macarena Mountains) is a Colombian mountain range located east of the Andes in the Meta Department. The mountains are separated by about 40 kilometers at their northern extreme from the Cordillera Oriental . The range is orientated from north to south and is 120 kilometers in length and 30 kilometers wide. The highest peak, which is unnamed, reaches 2615 meters above sea level and is the highest point of the Llanos. The first national reserve in Colombia was established in the central part of the mountain range in accordance with a Congressional Law promulgated in 1948. The status of National Natural Park (PNN) was designated in 1971. The ecologically protected area includes 6,200 km.

Flora and fauna

La Macarena National Park is an axis of ecological encounter between the fauna and flora of the Amazon and the Orinoco regions. Due to its altitude, temperatures can go from 42 F to 88 F. This feature helps to keep a unique habitat and then a relative so small territory holds an amazing biodiversity and, therefore, it holds too a good number of endemic species - A species that is endemic is unique to a defined place or region (in other words only found in that place or region).-

It has animal species such as anteaters, jaguars, cougars, deers, 8 species of monkeys, 550 species of birds, 1,200 species of insects and 100 species of reptiles.

The rare mountain tapir does not occure in Serrania de la Macarena, but is found in the adjacent Cordillera de los Picachos National ParkD. J. Lizcano, V. Pizarro, J. Cavelier and J. Carmona: Geographic distribution and population size of the mountain tapir (Tapirus pinchaque) in Colombia. Journal of Biogeography, 29, 7-15 online-PDF.

About flora it has 48 species of orchids and 2,000 other flora species and type of plants. However, botanics continue the task of classification of other many unique species.

Eco-tourism

The La Macarena National and Ecological Reserve Park is internationally known for one river that has been classified as one of the most beautiful rivers of the world: Cano Cristales. The beauty of the river has been chronicled by the Colombian journalist and explorer Andres Hurtado Garcia.

There are also other important torrents such as Angostura I in the Guayabero river and Cano Cafre, surrounded by rocky edges with a great amount of petroglifos. The place is also rich in many waterfalls difficult to see due to the steep relief.

Geology

About its geology, La Macarena is one of the most ancient geological formations of Colombia. It has rocks from the Lower Precambrian, therefore they could be dated 1,000 million years of age. According with some scholars, this hill region is related to the mountain systems of Guyana, Venezuela, Eastern Colombia, Surinam and Brasil for their close geological similarities and about 1,000 million of years of age.

The problem of colonization, illegal drug crops and fumigation

The integrity of the National Park has been historically threatened by the arrival of colonists since 1970, seeking land. The town of Buenavista (Meta) dates from this period.

In recent years, portions of the Park have been used both to grow coca, plant landmines and to house irregular rebel forces, because it is difficult for Colombian authorities to access and control the area.

By 2005 an estimated 45 km of the Park's extension was used to grow drugs as part of the illegal drug trade. Increased coca cultivation has contributed to damaging the Park's eco-system and diversity.

Despite the existence of drug crops, for many years the Park had never been subjected to controversial glyphosate fumigation, as it had been forbidden by law to do so in National Parks. Later reforms relaxed the law's restrictions, allowing for the use of fumigation only after a set criteria has been met, including viability and ecological impact studies.

In late 2005, after FARC guerrillas ambushed a number of Colombian security forces near the Park, the Colombian government publicly announced the beginning of a manual coca eradication campaign in La Macarena as a form of retaliation. Manual eradication efforts, consisting of a heavy police and military presence on the ground as a way of protecting workers, began in January 2006. These efforts lasted until the middle of the same year, manually eradicating an estimated 29.1 km of coca from the Park.

After a number of workers and Colombian law enforcement authorities were wounded and killed due to ambushes, mines and other forms of guerrilla attacks, the government announced that fumigation would be employed to eradicate the remaining 17 km of drug crops.

This decision has been criticized, because environmentalists fear that fumigation will contribute to the further deterioration of the Park's eco-system.

External links

La Macarena National Park, Spanish site of the Colombian Government

"The colonization of La Macarena Ecological Reserve" (Virtual book in Spanish of the Colombian Luis Angel Arango Libray).

Sistema de Informacion Ambiental Territorial de la Amazonia colombiana SIAT-AC

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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Serrania de la Macarena


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