Noel Kempff Mercado National Park

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Exploring the Biodiversity Hotspot: Noel Kempff Mercado National Park

Noel Kempff Mercado National Park, located in northeastern Santa Cruz Department, Province of José Miguel de Velasco, Bolivia, is a testament to the remarkable diversity and preservation efforts within the Amazon Basin. Established in 1990 and inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000, this expansive protected area spans an impressive 1,523,000 hectares, making it one of the largest and most intact parks in the region.

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UNESCO Description of the World Heritage Site

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.

UNESCO Justification of the World Heritage Site

Criteria (ix) and (x): The site contains an array of habitat types including evergreen rainforests, palm forests, cerrado, swamps, savannahs, gallery forests, and semi-deciduous dry forests. The cerrado habitats found on the Huanchaca Meseta have been isolated for millions of years providing an ideal living laboratory for the study of the evolution of these ecosystems. The site also contains a high diversity of plant and animal species, including viable populations of many globally threatened large vertebrates.

Encyclopedia Record: Noel Kempff Mercado National Park

Noel Kempff Mercado National Park is a national park in northeast Santa Cruz Department, Province of José Miguel de Velasco, Bolivia, on the border with Brazil.

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