Tortuguero National Park

Tortuguero National Park
	View from Tortuguero mountain over the national park
Location:	Limón , Costa Rica
Next city:	Tortuguero
Surface:	312 km²
Founding:	1975
	Caribbean coast in Tortuguero National Park
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In the Tortuguero National Park lies the village of the same name, Tortuguero, in which about 700 people live. Tortuguero is located on the Caribbean coast of the Central American state of Costa Rica , about 40 km from the Nicaraguan border in the Limón province .

The name translates as "place where the turtles come" and comes from the Spanish word "tortuga" , which means "turtle" .

The national park provides habitat for howler monkeys , capuchin monkeys and sloths, among others .

There are no cars in Tortuguero, the village can only be reached by boat or plane.

history

Tortuguero village has only existed since around 1930 when a Colombian family settled in the area. Around 1940 the logging of the tropical rainforest began in Tortuguero . For this purpose, arms of the river were turned into canals in order to facilitate the removal of the wood. Today there is very little primary forest in the area , most of the vegetation consists of secondary forest .

The national park has been under protection since around 1975. The main source of income for the inhabitants of Tortuguero today is tourism, which is still growing, mainly because of the sea turtles that nest on Tortuguero beach .

Web links

Commons : Tortuguero National Park - Collection of images, videos and audio files

http://www.tinamontours.de Website of the biologist Barbara Hartung, who lives in Tortuguero and works as a tour guide
World Database on Protected Areas - Tortuguero National Park (English)