Sipacate-Naranjo National Park is located along the Pacific coast of

Escuintla Escuintla () is an industrial city in Guatemala, its land extension is 4,384 km2, and it is nationally known for its sugar agribusiness. Its capital is a municipality with the same name. Citizens celebrate from December 6 to 9 with a small f ...

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

(). The park includes mangrove forests, lagoons and sandy beaches and covers an area of 20 km long and 1 km wide, stretching between the coastal towns of

Sipacate Sipacate is a resort town and municipality on the Pacific coast of Guatemala, in Escuintla Department about west of Puerto San José. It is promoted as a venue for surfing. Being roughly in the center of the Guatemalan coastline, it is used as a ...

and El Naranjo. Mangrove species found in the park are white mangrove (''

Laguncularia racemosa ''Laguncularia'' is a genus of plants in the family Combretaceae. The only species in the genus is ''Laguncularia racemosa'', the white mangrove. It is native to the coasts of western Africa from Senegal to Cameroon, the Atlantic Coast of the Am ...

''), black mangrove (''

Avicennia nitida ''Avicennia germinans'', the black mangrove, is a shrub or small tree growing up to 12 meters (39 feet) in the acanthus family, Acanthaceae. It grows in Tropics, tropical and Subtropics, subtropical regions of the Americas, on both the Atlanti ...

'', ''

Avicennia germinans ''Avicennia germinans'', the black mangrove, is a shrub or small tree growing up to 12 meters (39 feet) in the acanthus family, Acanthaceae. It grows in tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas, on both the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts ...

'') and several ''

Rhizophora ''Rhizophora'' is a genus of tropical mangrove trees, sometimes collectively called true mangroves. The most notable species is the red mangrove ('' Rhizophora mangle'') but some other species and a few natural hybrids are known. ''Rhizophora'' ...

'' species, including the red mangrove (''

Rhizophora mangle ''Rhizophora mangle'', also known as the red mangrove, is a salt-tolerant, small-to-medium sized evergreen tree restricted to coastal, estuarine ecosystems along the southern portions of North America, the Caribbean as well as Central America ...

''). Transitional tree species include the Mexican palmetto (''

Sabal mexicana ''Sabal mexicana'' is a species of palm tree that is native to far southern North America. Common names include Rio Grande palmetto, Mexican palmetto, Texas palmetto, Texas sabal palm, palmetto cabbage and palma de mícharos. The specific epith ...

'') and the guiana chestnut (''

Pachira aquatica ''Pachira aquatica'' is a species of tropical wetland tree in the mallow family Malvaceae, native to Central and South America where it grows in swamps. It is known by its common names Malabar chestnut, French peanut, Guiana chestnut, provisio ...

''). The park's beaches are breeding areas where several endangered turtle species lay their eggs, including the olive ridley (''

Lepidochelys olivacea The olive ridley sea turtle (''Lepidochelys olivacea''), also known commonly as the Pacific ridley sea turtle, is a species of turtle in the family Cheloniidae. The species is the second-smallest and most abundant of all sea turtles found in th ...

''), green turtle (''

Chelonia mydas The green sea turtle (''Chelonia mydas''), also known as the green turtle, black (sea) turtle or Pacific green turtle, is a species of large sea turtle of the family Cheloniidae. It is the only species in the genus ''Chelonia''. Its range exten ...

''), leatherback turtle ('' Dermochelys coriacea''), and hawksbill turtle (''

Eretmochelys imbricata The hawksbill sea turtle (''Eretmochelys imbricata'') is a critically endangered sea turtle belonging to the family Cheloniidae. It is the only extant species in the genus ''Eretmochelys''. The species has a global distribution that is largel ...

''). Other reptiles found in the park are ''

iguana ''Iguana'' (, ) is a genus of herbivorous lizards that are native to tropical areas of Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. The genus was first described by Austrian naturalist Josephus Nicolaus Laurenti, J.N. Laurenti in ...

s'', and freshwater turtles. Over 90 bird species -both migratory and resident- have been reported, including a large nesting heron population (''

Ardeidae Herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 75 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genus '' Botaurus'' are referred to as ...

''), cormorants (''

Phalacrocoracidae Phalacrocoracidae is a family of approximately 40 species of aquatic birds commonly known as cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed, but in 2021 the International Ornithologists' Union (IOU) ado ...

''), pelicans (''

Pelecanidae The Pelecanidae is a family of Pelecaniformes, pelecaniform birds within the Pelecani that contains three genera: the extinct ''Eopelecanus'' and ''Miopelecanus'' and the extant ''Pelecanus''. Pelecanids have existed since the late Eocene (Pria ...

''), ibises (''

Threskiornithidae The family Threskiornithidae includes 36 species of large wading birds. The family has been traditionally classified into two subfamilies, the ibises and the spoonbills; however, recent genetic studies have cast doubt on this arrangement, and ha ...

''), plovers, dotterels, lapwings (''

Charadriidae The bird family Charadriidae includes the plovers, dotterels, and lapwings. The family contains 69 species that are divided into 10 genera. Taxonomy The family Charadriidae was introduced (as Charadriadæ) by the English zoologist William El ...

'') and gull species (''

Laridae Laridae is a family of seabirds in the order Charadriiformes that includes the gulls, terns (including white terns), noddies, and skimmers. It includes around 100 species arranged into 22 genera. They are an adaptable group of mostly aerial bird ...

''). Bird species of special concern found in the park but which may be under threat in Guatemala, are: Pied-billed Grebe ('' Podilymbus podiceps''), brown pelican (''

Pelecanus occidentalis The brown pelican (''Pelecanus occidentalis'') is a bird of the pelican family, Pelecanidae, one of three species found in the Americas and one of two that feed by diving into water. It is found on the Atlantic Coast from New Jersey to the mouth ...

''), Great White Egret ('' Ardea alba''), Snowy Egret (''

Egretta thula The snowy egret (''Egretta thula'') is a small white heron. The genus name comes from Provençal French for the little egret, , which is a diminutive of , 'heron'. The species name ''thula'' is the Araucano term for the black-necked swan, app ...

''), Little Blue Heron '' Egretta caerulea'' Tricolored Heron ('' Egretta tricolor''), Green Heron ('' Butorides virescens''), Yellow-crowned Night Heron ('' Nyctanassa violacea''), Boat-billed Heron ('' Cochlearius cochlearius''), Roseate Spoonbill ('' Platalea ajaja''), Wood Stork (''

Mycteria americana The wood stork (''Mycteria americana'') is a large wading bird in the family Ciconiidae (storks). Originally described in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus, this stork is native to the subtropics and tropics of the Americas where it persists in habitats wi ...

''), Black-necked Stilt ('' Himantopus mexicanus''), and Least Tern ('' Sterna antillarum'').

References

Wetlands of Guatemala National parks of Guatemala Protected areas established in 1969 Central American dry forests {{NorthAm-protected-area-stub