Naciones Unidas National Park is a forested park area of 4.91 km², located 21 km south of

Guatemala City Guatemala City ( es, Ciudad de Guatemala), known locally as Guatemala or Guate, is the capital and largest city of Guatemala, and the most populous urban area in Central America. The city is located in the south-central part of the country, ne ...

, just north of

Lake Amatitlán Lake Amatitlán (''Lago Amatitlán'', ) is a lake located within the Amatitlán caldera in south-central Guatemala, fairly close to Guatemala City. It lies in the central highlands, 1,186 m (3890 feet) above sea level. Its maximum depth is ...

in the municipality of Villa Nueva. It is one of the last remaining

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

s in the Guatemala City Metropolitan Area.

History

The United Nations National Park was declared a "National Park" by Presidential Agreement of May 26, 1955. It is one of the oldest National Parks in Guatemala. It was assigned as a usufruct for 25 years to Fundación Defensores de la Naturaleza according to agreement 319-97 of April 22, 1997. This agreement was modified by Agreement 42-2007 and later according to Agreement 124-2007, through these agreements Fundación Defensores de la Naturaleza has under its administration 2,497,160.5896 square meters.

Features

The park is visited by many people due to its proximity to the city offering views of the Pacaya Volcano and Lake Amatitlán. This destination protects the forest in the area and provides spaces for family recreation. Trails, picnic areas, replicas of the temples of

Tikal Tikal () (''Tik’al'' in modern Mayan orthography) is the ruin of an ancient city, which was likely to have been called Yax Mutal, found in a rainforest in Guatemala. It is one of the largest archeological sites and urban centers of the pre-C ...

and the central park of Antigua Guatemala are some of the attractions of the place.

Biology and Ecology

According to monitoring carried out in the park, the presence of at least 111 species of birds, 11 species of mammals, 36 species of reptiles and 5 species of amphibians has been confirmed. The species of trees and vegetation that can be identified and that are under protection and monitoring by the park authorities are: * Cypress (Cupressus lucitanica) * Pine (Pinus oocarpa) * Cedar (Cedrella tonduzi) * Loquat (Eriobotrya japonica) * Avocado (Persea americana) * Guava (Psidion Guajava)

References

National parks of Guatemala Protected areas established in 1955 1955 establishments in Guatemala Central American pine–oak forests {{NorthAm-protected-area-stub