Jaragua National Park

Jaragua National Park is a Dominican national park located in Pedernales Province, in the extreme southwest of the Dominican Republic. Jaragua has a total area of 1,374 km², the largest such protected area in the Caribbean.
It has part of the Man and the Biosphere Programme.

Geography and ecology

Jaragua National Park, named after the Taíno chiefdom of Xaragua, was established by Presidential Decree No. 1315 on August 11, 1983, to protect the Dominican Republic's Hispaniolan dry forests ecoregion and its endemic species. Spanning the southern slopes of the Baoruco Mountain Range, from Oviedo to Cabo Rojo, Jaragua National Park includes dry forest, coastal mangroves and scrub, as well as dry, terrestrial areas inland and protected offshore marine habitats.
Beata Island, Alto Velo Island and Bahía de las Águilas are part of the park, as well as [Lago de Oviedo|Lago 'de Oviedo, Dominican Republic|Oviedo], a saltwater lake ecosystem known for its diverse avifauna. Birds seen in the area include many migratory and breeding waterfowl, wading and passerine species common to the Americas, as well as psittaciformes, hummingbirds and several birds of prey. Endemic avian species include the Greater Antillean bullfinch, American flamingo, Antillean piculet, Greater Antillean grackle, Hispaniolan emerald, Hispaniolan mango, Abbott's northern potoo, vervain hummingbird and the Hispaniolan parrot, among many others.
Among the variety of habitats found within the bounds of Jaragua are the numerous lagoons, such as Lagunas Oviedo, Salada, Manuel Matos, La Rabiza, Puerto en Medio, Bucán Base, and Salado Bucán.
Jaragua is the only protected area of the Paleoisla del Sur' geoformation, one of two land masses to form from the foundation of Hispaniola between 20,000 and 30,000 B.C. The park has been designated an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International.