Puinawai Natural Reserve () is the second-largest

national park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

in Colombia. This protected area occupies of the Amazon Region of Colombia, roughly 15% of the

Guainía Department Guainía (; Yuri language: "Land of many waters") is a department of Eastern Colombia. It is in the east of the country, bordering Venezuela and Brazil. Its capital is Inírida. In 1963 Guainía was split off from Vaupés department. The nor ...

. The Reserve was created in September 1989 and coincides with three important

indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology) In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...

territories that were also formed at the same time. Several rivers cross the Natural Reserve belonging to the Amazon River basin: The Cuyari,

Isana ''Isana'' is a genus of moths of the family Erebidae. The genus was erected by Francis Walker (entomologist), Francis Walker in 1859. Species *''Isana albifascia'' (Hampson, 1929) Meghalaya *''Isana albiscripta'' Holloway, 2008 Borneo *''Isana ...

and Guainía River. And belonging to the

Orinoco River The Orinoco () is one of the longest rivers in South America at . Its drainage basin, sometimes known as the Orinoquia, covers approximately 1 million km2, with 65% of it in Venezuela and 35% in Colombia. It is the List of rivers by discharge, f ...

basin, the

Inírida River The Inírida (, Spanish: Río Inírida) is a river in the north-west of South America, in the territory of Colombia, the largest tributary of the Guaviare (the Orinoco River basin). The length of the river is , of which are navigable for small v ...

. The Natural Reserve lies between altitude of above sea level and its climate is hot and humid with little seasonal variations throughout the year.

Ecosystem

The area of the Puinawai Natural Reserve mainly consists of humid tropical rainforest. However, there are also tropical open savanna and transitional zones. Pressure from deforestation has so far remained relatively small, due to its inaccessibility and low population density. According to Colombia's national park services, 1% of Puinawai has been deforested. There are 419 endemic plant species in the natural reserve, 176 of which are

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

in the whole Guyana Shield. The reserve is also rich in fauna with many local species that were preserved also due to the local indigenous tribes practicing a sustainable co-existence with the local environment. The Puinawai Natural Reserve is not open to the public.Estado del Parque: Cerrado al público

References

National parks of Colombia Protected areas established in 1989 1989 establishments in Colombia Geography of Guainía Department {{Colombia-geo-stub