Sierra Bermeja is a mountain range in southwestern

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

. It forms the southern boundary of the Lajas Valley and it is bordered by La Parguera in the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere, located south of the Gulf of Mexico and southwest of the Sargasso Sea. It is bounded by the Greater Antilles to the north from Cuba ...

coast. It extends from the municipality of Cabo Rojo in the west to Lajas in the east. It consists of a combination of

volcanic rocks Volcanic rocks (often shortened to volcanics in scientific contexts) are rocks formed from lava erupted from a volcano. Like all rock types, the concept of volcanic rock is artificial, and in nature volcanic rocks grade into hypabyssal and met ...

, completely crossed by serpentinite and

amphibolite Amphibolite () is a metamorphic rock that contains amphibole, especially hornblende and actinolite, as well as plagioclase feldspar, but with little or no quartz. It is typically dark-colored and dense, with a weakly foliated or schistose ...

faults, which could well be the oldest known rock in Puerto Rico. The mountains were used by the

Taíno people The Taíno are the Indigenous peoples of the Caribbean, Indigenous peoples of the Greater Antilles and surrounding islands. At the time of European contact in the late 15th century, they were the principal inhabitants of most of what is now The ...

as refuge from the Spanish, and then by smugglers during the Spanish colonization. The Sierra Bermeja is the nesting place of many species that feed in the Laguna Cartagena. These hills are among a few forested areas of the southwestern coastal plain, characterized by its aridity. As a result, the Sierra provides the requirements for a large quantity of wildlife established in the area, many of it

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

. In 2015, volunteers searched the area for a

meteorite A meteorite is a rock (geology), rock that originated in outer space and has fallen to the surface of a planet or Natural satellite, moon. When the original object enters the atmosphere, various factors such as friction, pressure, and chemical ...

that, according to

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

, may have landed in Sierra Bermeja. Development in the region had become a threat to the area, despite being one of the most important natural areas in Puerto Rico. In June 2018, funds were earmarked for universities in Puerto Rico to use for research of the Sierra Bermeja region. Local folklore surrounding the area says there is a secret

UFO An unidentified flying object (UFO) is an object or phenomenon seen in the sky but not yet identified or explained. The term was coined when United States Air Force (USAF) investigations into flying saucers found too broad a range of shapes ...

base somewhere in the Sierra Bermeja. Conservation efforts have been ongoing, spearheaded by the US Fish and Wildlife and landowners. The highest point of this range is located on Cerro Mariquita within the municipality of Cabo Rojo.

Gallery

Sierra Bermeja mountain range, Lajas Valley, Puerto Rico, 1935.jpg, Sierra Bermeja mountain range, 1935

References

{{coord, 17, 59, 54, N, 67, 06, 38, W, source:kolossus-eswiki, display=title Mountain ranges of Puerto Rico Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico Lajas, Puerto Rico