Los Roques Archipelago


The Los Roques Archipelago is a federal dependency of Venezuela consisting of approximately 350 islands, cays, and islets in a total area of. The archipelago is located directly north of the port of La Guaira, in the Caribbean Sea.
The islands' pristine coral reef attracts many wealthy visitors, especially from Europe, some of whom come in their own yachts and anchor in the inner, protected shallow waters. Development and tourism are controlled.

History

Prehistory

Its first settlers were the Caribbean aborigines who visited the islands to collect botutos, fish, hunt turtles and extract salt. There are still some constructions of salt flats with dikes, stone paths and remains of houses that were created at this time known as the time of exploitation of salt. But the permanent occupation arises with the arrival of fishermen from Margarita Island, who were bringing their families and settling in Los Roques.

Spanish colony

The islands were sighted by early Spanish navigators, and in 1589 the governor of the Venezuelan province ordered the formal takeover of these islands on behalf of the colony.
The Dutch considered Los Roques to belong to their island territory of Curaçao because of its proximity to Bonaire which also belonged to the Dutch. The author M.D. Teenstra in 1836 still writes : "The Government of Curaçao also includes the uninhabited islets and rocks Little Curaçao, Aves, Roques and Orchilla."
In the 18th century, the Sociedad Mercantil Real Compañía Guipuzcoana was established on the islands and the first islands of the archipelago were given their names. Also at that time, temporary fishermen began to arrive, and in the 19th century the exploitation of salt mines and guano began.

Independent Venezuela

In 1871 the Venezuelan president Antonio Guzmán Blanco created by decree the Territorio Colón which included Los Roques and other adjacent islands. The island of Gran Roque was named as the center of territorial government.
Around the year 1886 there is reference to the arrival of inhabitants coming from the nearby Netherlands Antilles, Aruba, Curaçao, etc. They left as a legacy some of the exotic names given to some islands or keys. The suffix "quí" corresponds to the English term "key", which means Island.
At the beginning of the 20th century an epidemic of bubonic plague in La Guaira caused the Venezuelan government to authorise the use of the island of Gran Roque as a quarantine site.
In 1910, the town of Gran Roque began to consolidate with families from Margarita Island, mainly fishermen.
On 20 July 1938 the islands were integrated into the Federal Dependencies of Venezuela. The small population of 484 that inhabited it in 1941 grew to 559 in the year 1950.
Because of the wide variety of seabirds and rich aquatic life, the Venezuelan government declared Los Roques a National Park in 1972. After its declaration as a national park, the Los Roques scientific foundation was created, which established its laboratories and facilities on the island of Dos Mosquises, to carry out works on archeology, fish, turtles, mollusks, corals, sponges, fishing and oceanography.
In 1978 the marine delimitation agreement between Venezuela and the Kingdom of the Netherlands was signed.
In 1987, the Los Roques Scientific Foundation carried out a registry, which allowed them to conclude that there were 847 inhabitants in Gran Roque. Only 663 of these were permanent inhabitants, and the remainder were sailors residing on Isla Margarita.

Autonomy

In order to give greater dynamism to its administration and promote the sustainable development of the islands on 2 November 1990, according to Presidential Decree 1214, the figure of the Single Authority of Los Roques Area was created, which would continue as part of the Federal Dependencies but with a special administrative status.
In October 2011 all the islands of the Los Roques archipelago are integrated to the Miranda Insular Territory according to presidential decree 8549 of 1 November 2011, published in the official gazette N° 39797, a subdivision of the Federal Dependencies with capital in Gran Roque.
In 2012 the Venezuelan National Navy named a Damen Stan Lander 5612 landing craft after the islands. In 2012, the Organic Regulations of the Head of Government of the Insular Territory of Miranda were approved, which establishes the organization of the government in Los Roques, La Orchila and Las Aves. In 2014 the government of the Territory together with the inhabitants of Los Roques established the Norms of Communal Coexistence of the Insular Territory Francisco de Miranda in the Archipelago of Los Roques.
In September 2019 a new airport was inaugurated in Los Roques, with an expanded runway, new facilities with a national and international area, waiting room and other related structures.

Geography

The major islands of the archipelago have an atoll structure, with two external barriers formed by coral communities, and an inner lagoon and sandy shallows. The park consists of, of coral reefs, 42 coral cays surrounding a shallow central lagoon of, two barrier reefs and 300 sand banks, islands and cays, ranging in size from Cayo Grande to the Gran Roque. Other important islands are Francisqui, Nordisqui, Madrisquí, and Crasqui.

Climate

The climate is warm and dry, with average annual temperature of in July and August, reaches a maximum of 34 °, and between September and January are presented occasional rain, with relative humidity 83% annually. Rainfall is / year; minimum and maximum .
The wind blows constantly throughout the year, tempering the heat. The amount of sunlight in Los Roques is good throughout the year, as clear skies prevail.

Zones of the national park

As a result of its declaration as a national park in 1972, a protection plan was created, which establishes certain regulations on the island to preserve the state of these ecosystems. This plan is known as zoning, which consists of the separation of zones management, which are protected depending on their fragility and importance, and depending on this certain activities are allowed. Which means that the more protection an area has, the fewer activities will be allowed
The Archipelago de Los Roques national park has seven management zones, the Integral Protection zone, the Primitive Marina, the Managed Natural Environment, Recreation Zone, of Cultural Historical Interest and Archeopaleontology, Services zone and Special Use zone. These zones are:
  • The Integral Protection area, which is the most protected, and which includes the following keys: Sebastopol, Esparquí, Boca de Cote, ; Los Canquises, ; Selesqui,, and Isla Larga. Only scientific research is allowed in this area, with prior authorization of the national park authorities.
  • The second zone called the Primitiva Marina zone comprises the waters around these keys, in addition to the eastern barrier and the keys Sal, Dos Mosquises, Carenero, Cayo de Agua and Bequevé, because they are considered ecologically sensitive areas. The activities allowed in this area are boating, sailing and motor sailing along the indicated routes, swimming, snorkelling, scuba diving, sport fishing, hiking on marked trails and visiting and observing nature. in groups of no more than 15 people.
  • The Managed Natural Environment zone that encompasses all the keys and peripheral waters of the archipelago and where the same activities as in the Primitiva Marina zone are allowed.
  • The Recreation, Services and Special Use areas are all those keys that have already been intervened, such as the Gran Roque, the navigation channel and the Dos Mosquises key. In this area all the activities mentioned above are allowed, as well as camping with their respective permission from the authorities and water sports.
  • The Historical Cultural Interest and Archeopaleontology area that protects all those areas where archaeological finds have been made, some examples of this area are: Bequevé, Cayo de Agua, Dos Mosquises, Noronquí, Cayo Sal and Los Canquises.

    Flora

There are several mangrove species: Rhizophora mangle, Avicennia germinans, Laguncularia racemosa and Conocarpus erectus, extensive seagrass meadows, halophyte species such as glass grass, red purslane or beach bell, cacti such as a prickly pear cactus or guasábara and a crop or melon cactus.

Fauna

Due to extreme environmental conditions and a lack of fresh water, land animals are rare. The list is limited to a few species of iguanas and lizards, spiders and insects. The greater bulldog bat is the only indigenous land mammal.
It is in the water where the immense richness becomes evident: 280 species of fish, 200 species of crustaceans, 140 species of mollusks, 61 species of corals, 60 species of sponges and 45 species of sea urchins and starfish. Dolphins, whales, manta rays and sea turtles abound. Four types of threatened turtles regularly nest in the archipelago: loggerhead, green, leatherback and hawksbill sea turtles. This coastline shelters in its waters coral reefs with a wide diversity of species. In Los Roques National Park, nine different types of octocorals are located. The low concentration of octocorals is possibly due to the deeper average subsidence of the atolls in Los Roques.
The reef of Sebastopol Lagoon in Archipelago Los Roques, is an area that has been previously identified as a nursery area for lemon sharks. The most representative animals are the green sea turtle, pink queen conch, spiny lobster, typical coral reef fish and 92 species of birds.
Los Roques is a meeting point for some 50 species of migratory birds from North America. Among the most frequent birds are the brown pelican, red-footed and brown boobies, and the laughing gull or guanaguanare. Flocks of American flamingos are often seen. The archipelago, along with its surrounding waters, has been designated an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International because it supports significant populations of many bird species.