Santa Rosa National Park

Santa Rosa National Park
IUCN category II (national park)
Map showing the location of Santa Rosa National Park
Location	Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica
Nearest city	La Cruz
Coordinates
Area	387 km2 (149 sq mi)
Established	1972
Governing body	National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC)

Santa Rosa National Park, in Spanish the Parque Nacional Santa Rosa, is a national park, in Guanacaste Province, northwestern Costa Rica. It was the first national park established in Costa Rica, created in 1971.

Geography

The main entrance of Santa Rosa National Park is 36 kilometres (22 mi) north of Liberia, in northern Guanacaste Province. The park covers an area of approximately 495 square kilometres (191 sq mi).

It is part of the Area de Conservación Guanacaste World Heritage site, originally created to protect the scene of the Battle of Santa Rosa. It is also within the larger national Guanacaste Conservation Area.

The Interamerican Highway (Pan-American Highway) is along its eastern edge, where the adjacent Guanacaste National Park is located.

History

Santa Rosa was originally a farm located in the north-western Guanacaste Province, in Costa Rica. Today an old hacienda building, "La Casona," functions as the monument commemorating the fallen heroes of the different battles that took place here.

Battle of Santa Rosa

Primarily, Costa Rica remembers the Battle of Santa Rosa won by their army over the forces of filibuster William Walker. On March 20, 1856, when the Costa Rican forces reached this point, the filibusters were housed in the main farm building, La Casona. The ensuing battle lasted all of 14 minutes with the national militia victorious in ousting the invaders.

The farm however kept for years its strategic significance. This place was the location of two more battles of Costa Rican forces against invading forces from Nicaragua. In 1919, there was an attempt from the invaders to overthrow the dictatorship of General Federico Tinoco Granados; and in the 1955, Costa Ricans fought intruders supporting a coup attempt against the government of José Figueres.

Tropical dry broadleaf forest habitat in the park.

White-headed capuchin monkey in a mangrove.

Natural history

Santa Rosa National Park was also created to protect the natural environment beyond the historical site.

Flora

Ten unique natural habitats are within in the park. They include savannas, deciduous forest, marshlands, and mangrove woodlands.

Areas of the Isthmian-Pacific moist forest ecoregion, similar to the Isthmian-Atlantic moist forest ecoregion and both of the tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests biome; and moist Pacific Coast mangroves ecoregionsimilar to the Mosquitia-Nicaraguan Caribbean Coast mangroves ecoregion and both of the mangrove biome; and tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests biome habitats — are protected here.

Fauna

Fauna includes coyotes, peccaries, white-nosed coatis, Baird's tapirs, sea turtles, and terrestrial turtles. The three species of monkey are Geoffroy's spider monkey, mantled howler and white-headed capuchin.

Several cat species are also present: jaguarundi, ocelot, cougar and jaguar. They are rarely seen.

Around 250 bird species and 115 mammal species are found within the park.

See also

• Guanacaste Conservation Area
• Area de Conservación Guanacaste World Heritage Site

External links

• Santa Rosa National Park at Costa Rica National Parks
• Santa Rosa National Park at Costa Rica Bureau
• Overview of the park from Moon Handbooks