Old Providence McBean Lagoon National Natural Park
Encyclopedia
The Old Providence McBean Lagoon National Natural Park is a national park
located on the northeast side of Providencia Island
in the Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina, Colombia
.
It is one of three national parks in the Colombian Caribbean with coral reefs on its territories, the other two being Tayrona
and Rosario and San Bernardo Corals
.
that would destroy a significant part of the area's mangroves.
The park contains different ecosystems, such as mangrove forests, coral formations, beds of marine grasses, and a small area of tropical dry forest. Due to the colorful coral reefs, the Providencia Island is also known as "The Sea of Seven Colors" .
Average yearly rainfall is 3000 mm, with the largest precipitation occurring in October–November. There is a dry period from January to June. Average temperature is 25°C and relative humidity
73.3%.
and there is also smaller populations of black mangrove
and white mangrove
.
There are 74 recorded species of bird in the area. Noteworthy marine species include: Audubon's Shearwater
, Magnificent Frigatebird
, Brown Booby
and Royal Tern
; non-marine: Green Heron
and Bananaquit
(Coereba flaveola tricolor). The extensive area of marine grasses around the lagoon and bordering mangroves is made up of Thalassia testudinum and Syringodium filiforme.
National park
A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...
located on the northeast side of Providencia Island
Providencia Island
Isla de Providencia or Old Providence is a mountainous Caribbean island. Though it is closer to Nicaragua, it is part of the Archipelago of San Andres, Providencia and Santa Catalina, a department of Colombia, lying midway between Costa Rica and Jamaica...
in the Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina, Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
.
It is one of three national parks in the Colombian Caribbean with coral reefs on its territories, the other two being Tayrona
Tayrona National Natural Park
The Tayrona National Natural Park is a protected area in the Colombian northern Caribbean region and within the jurisdiction of the Department of Magdalena and some 34 km from the city of Santa Marta...
and Rosario and San Bernardo Corals
Rosario and San Bernardo Corals National Natural Park
The Rosario and San Bernardo Corals National Natural Park is a natural park located in the Sucre and Bolívar Departments on the coast of the Caribbean Region of Colombia, 45 km from the Bay of Cartagena...
.
General
The area covers 9.95 km² (3.8 sq mi) (of which 9.05 are maritime) and was declared a national park 1995, partly as a social defense against increased human activity in the form of time-sharingTime-sharing
Time-sharing is the sharing of a computing resource among many users by means of multiprogramming and multi-tasking. Its introduction in the 1960s, and emergence as the prominent model of computing in the 1970s, represents a major technological shift in the history of computing.By allowing a large...
that would destroy a significant part of the area's mangroves.
The park contains different ecosystems, such as mangrove forests, coral formations, beds of marine grasses, and a small area of tropical dry forest. Due to the colorful coral reefs, the Providencia Island is also known as "The Sea of Seven Colors" .
Average yearly rainfall is 3000 mm, with the largest precipitation occurring in October–November. There is a dry period from January to June. Average temperature is 25°C and relative humidity
Relative humidity
Relative humidity is a term used to describe the amount of water vapor in a mixture of air and water vapor. It is defined as the partial pressure of water vapor in the air-water mixture, given as a percentage of the saturated vapor pressure under those conditions...
73.3%.
Flora and fauna
The mangroves range from 3 m (9.8 ft)–12 m (39.4 ft) in height. The predominant species is red mangroveRhizophora mangle
Rhizophora mangle, known as the red mangrove, is distributed in estuarine ecosystems throughout the tropics. Its viviparous "seeds," in actuality called propagules, become fully mature plants before dropping off the parent tree...
and there is also smaller populations of black mangrove
Avicennia germinans
Avicennia germinans, commonly known as the black mangrove, is a species of flowering plant in the acanthus family, Acanthaceae.A. germinans grows in tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas, on both Atlantic and Pacific coasts, and on the Atlantic coast of tropical Africa, where it thrives...
and white mangrove
Laguncularia racemosa
Laguncularia racemosa is a species of flowering plant in the leadwood tree family, Combretaceae...
.
There are 74 recorded species of bird in the area. Noteworthy marine species include: Audubon's Shearwater
Audubon's Shearwater
Audubon's Shearwater, Puffinus lherminieri, is a common tropical seabird from the family Procellariidae. Sometimes called Dusky-backed Shearwater, the scientific name of this species commemorates the French naturalist Félix Louis L'Herminier....
, Magnificent Frigatebird
Magnificent Frigatebird
The Magnificent Frigatebird was sometimes previously known as Man O'War, reflecting its rakish lines, speed, and aerial piracy of other birds....
, Brown Booby
Brown Booby
The Brown Booby is a large seabird of the booby family, Sulidae. The adult brown booby reaches about in length. Its head and upper body are covered in dark brown, with the remainder being a contrasting white. The juvenile form is gray-brown with darkening on the head, wings and tail...
and Royal Tern
Royal Tern
The Royal Tern is a seabird in the tern family Sternidae. This bird has two distinctive subspecies. T. m. maximus breeds on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the southern USA and Mexico into the Caribbean. The slightly smaller T. m. albididorsalis breeds in coastal west Africa...
; non-marine: Green Heron
Green Heron
The Green Heron is a small heron of North and Central America. It was long considered conspecific with its sister species the Striated Heron , and together they were called "Green-backed Heron"...
and Bananaquit
Bananaquit
The Bananaquit is a species of passerine bird of uncertain relation. It is tentatively placed in the tanager family, but classified as incertae sedis by other authorities such as the American Ornithologists' Union. Its classification is debated, and it is often placed in its own family: Coerebidae...
(Coereba flaveola tricolor). The extensive area of marine grasses around the lagoon and bordering mangroves is made up of Thalassia testudinum and Syringodium filiforme.