Sierra Cristal National Park
| Sierra Cristal National Park | |
|---|---|
 Sierra de Cristal | |
  Location within Cuba | |
| Location | Holguín Province, Cuba |
| Nearest city | Mayarí |
| Coordinates | 20°32′31″N 75°28′34″W / 20.54194°N 75.47611°W |
| Area | 185.37 square kilometres (71.57 sq mi) |
| Established | 24 April 1930[2] |
Sierra Cristal National Park (Spanish: Parque Nacional Sierra Cristal) is a national park, the first national park created in Cuba, established by presidential decree on 24 April 1930.[2] It occupies mountainous terrain in Holguín Province in eastern Cuba.[3]
Geography
It is located in the municipalities of Mayarí and Sagua de Tánamo in southern Holguín Province[4] It consists of mountainous terrain in the Sierra Cristal, a part of the Nipe-Sagua-Baracoa mountain range.[4] It covers an area of 185.37 square kilometres (71.57 sq mi).[5][6] Cristal Peak (Pico Cristal) is the highest point in the park, with an elevation of 1,300 m (4,300 ft).[6]
Flora and fauna
Pine forests dominate, especially the Cuban pine (Pinus cubensis),[3] which can reach a height of 30 m (98 ft)[7] in this area. There are also ferns, orchids, and mahogany and cedar trees.[3]
There are many bird species in residence, such as the Cuban trogon (Cuba's national bird), the bee hummingbird (the smallest known bird), the Cuban parrot, and possibly the ivory-billed woodpecker (though it was last seen in Cuba in 1987 and may be extinct[8][9]).[3]
The endangered Cuban solenodon (Solenodon cubanus),[6] a small, shrew-like mammal and the hutia, a moderately large rodent, can be found here.[3]
Conservation
The park was created by presidential decree on 24 April 1930, initially covering an area of 26,800 hectares (66,000 acres),[10] to protect the flora and fauna, but in 1958 it was acknowledged that little had been done in the way of conservation.[2]
A research center established in 1988 in Pinares de Mayarí monitors the ecology of the region.[7]
References
- ↑ UNEP-WCMC (2025). Protected Area Profile for Pico Cristal from the World Database on Protected Areas. Retrieved 24 March 2025.
- 1 2 3 Daimar Cánovas González (2017). "Environmental Legislation and Institutional Framework in Cuba". Florida Journal of International Law. 29 (1). Retrieved 31 May 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Sierra Cristal National Park". nationalparksassociation.org. Retrieved 31 May 2026.
- 1 2 Bedia, Amanda (30 October 2023). "Sierra Cristal National Park". CubaPlus. Retrieved 31 May 2026.
- ↑ National Protected Areas System of Cuba. "Protected Areas". Archived from the original on 10 August 2007. Retrieved 10 October 2007.
- 1 2 3 "The Seven Remarkable National Parks Of Cuba". worldatlas.com. Retrieved 31 May 2026.
- 1 2 Radio Habana. "Sierra Cristal: el primer parque nacional cubano" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 4 October 2007. Retrieved 10 October 2007.
- ↑ Gallagher, Tim (11 April 2016). "Chasing the Ivory-Bill, Day 1: The Journey Begins". Audubon. Archived from the original on 14 April 2016. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
... until 1986, when Lester Short of the American Museum of Natural History and his colleagues announced seeing Ivory-bills in the mountains of eastern Cuba ... The last sighting in Cuba was in 1987.
- ↑ Lammertink, Martjan; Estrada, Alberto R. (1995). "Status of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker Campephilus principalis in Cuba: almost certainly extinct" (PDF). Bird Conservation International. 5 (1): 53–59. doi:10.1017/S095927090000294X. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 August 2022 – via www.cambridge.org.
The Ivory-billed Woodpecker Campephilus principalis has suffered from destruction of its habitat over the whole of its range, being last recorded in eastern Cuba (Ojito de Agua) in 1987.
- ↑ Díaz-Briquets, Sergio (30 November 1996). "Forestry Policies of Cuba's Socialist Government: An Appraisal". Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy. Retrieved 31 May 2026.
Protected areas of Cuba | ||
|---|---|---|
| National parks |
|  |
| World heritage sites | ||
| Biosphere reserves | ||