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The Osa Conservation Area (ACOSA) possesses several protected areas, among these are Corcovado and Piedras Blancas National Parks, the Golfo Dulce Forest Reserve and Golfito Wildlife Refuge.
Corcovado National Park encompasses 44,484.56 terrestrial ha and 5,375 marine ha and contains a variety of ecosystems including forests, beaches, coral reefs, and mangrove and freshwater swamps. Corcovado has an unusually high level of biological diversity, which provides essential habitat for a number of endemic and endangered species, and which makes Corcovado, Costa Rica’s most biologically important protected lowland area, according to the Ministry of Environment . The area includes around 25-30 ecosystems. These various habitats support an incredible number of species of plants and wildlife, including a number of animals that are globally endangered, including jaguars, tapirs, and peccaries.
The fact that Corcovado contains significant populations of large predators such as jaguars and pumas reflects the overall ecosystem integrity of the area. Scientists are still recognizing new and unique biological processes that occur in the Corcovado area. Biologists recently discovered that Golfo Dulce, located just east of Corcovado, is a calving area for both northern and southern Pacific populations of humpback whales. This circumstance is unknown, and may prove essential for the preservation of genetic diversity of this species. These whales pass through the protected waters of Corcovado National Park and the Isla del Caño. Recently the highly endangered harpy eagle believed to be locally extinct in Corcovado National Park since 1989, was confirmed to still exist in the Park or to have returned. Corcovado and the Osa Peninsula contain extremely high species diversity.
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