El Imposible National Park

The Reserva Natural El Imposible is a national park in the department of Ahuachapán in El Salvador.

Description

The park was made ​​on 1 January 1989 under special protection and covers an area of ​​5000 hectares with an altitude 250-1425 meters. In 1992, the National Park was included on the basis of outstanding cultural importance and natural properties in the tentative list of World Natural Heritage Site by UNESCO, along with the National Park Cara Sucia ( categoría IUCN II ( Parque nacional ) ).

The Highland sector of El Imposible preserves the largest contiguous preserved forest in El Salvador. The archaeological findings date back to 160 BC and are the earliest evidence for the agricultural settlements in southern Mesoamerica. During the Late Classic period 600 to 900 AD, there was a regional center of Cotzumalhuapa culture. These and other prehistoric peoples used the rich natural resources of the varied environment in a narrow coastal strip of Barra de Santiago, including the sandy beaches, mangrove forests and wetlands that form the volcanic highlands.

In the area of the park are the sources of rivers: San Francisco Menendez, El Corozo, Jencho, Mixtepe, Maishtapula, Izcanal, Ahuachapío and Guayapa.

Visitor

25 full-time park rangers are responsible for the protection of more than 500 species of plants, over 100 species of mammals, 53 amphibian and reptile species, 285 bird species and over 5,000 species of butterflies. The Rangers are a team of 20 local tour guides show visitors the features supported. The annual number of visitors is around 8000.

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