Bolivia - Noel Kempff Mercado National Park

Noel Kempff Mercado National Park (2000)
Bolivia

Bolivia 1989. Views from the Noel Kempff National Park.

The National Park is one of the largest (1,523,000 ha) and most intact parks in the Amazon Basin. With an altitudinal range of 200 m to nearly 1,000 m, it is the site of a rich mosaic of habitat types from Cerrado savannah and forest to upland evergreen Amazonian forests.

The park boasts an evolutionary history dating back over a billion years to the Precambrian period. An estimated 4,000 species of flora as well as over 600 bird species and viable populations of many globally endangered or threatened vertebrate species live in the park.

Bolivia 1989. Views from the Noel Kempff National Park.

The Noel Kempff Mercado National Park spans nearly 4 million acres in northeastern Bolivia in one of the most biologically diverse areas in the world. A remote wilderness rising from Amazon rain forests to spectacular cliffs and waterfalls, the Park harbors several hundred species of rare and endangered wildlife.

Bridging dry and wet ecological communities, the Park is home to more than 130 species of mammals (including rare river otters, river dolphins, tapirs, spider and howler monkeys, the giant armadillo, giant anteaters and endangered jaguars, including a population of black jaguars), 620 species of birds (including 9 species of macaw, possibly the highest number of species in any one protected area), and 70 species of reptiles, including black caiman.

Bolivia 1939. Cocoi Heron.

Bolivia 1939. Toco Toucan.

Bolivia 1939. Jaguar.

Bolivia 1939. Chinchilla.
Bolivia 1939. Cocoi Heron.
Bolivia 1939. Toco Toucan.
Bolivia 1939. Jaguar.

The area encompasses five important ecosystems ranging from Amazonian rain forest, gallery forest and semi-deciduous tropical forest to flooded savanna and dry cerrado. A rich variety of grasses, orchids (110 different species), and tree species bloom throughout the year. The diversity of the park’s flora and fauna make it an ideal natural area for biological research and an outstanding attraction for ecotourism activities.

Sources and links:

Other World Heritage Sites in Bolivia (on this site). Inactive links are not described on stamps. Please refer to the UNESCO-listing, Bolivia-section, for further information about the individual properties.

Back to index