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Guatopo National Park
IUCN category II (national park)
Nearest city	Caracas
Area	122,464 ha
Established	March 28, 1958
Governing body	INPARQUES

The Guatopo National Park is located in the interior range of the central part of the Cordillera de la Costa, on the border of Mirando and Guárico States. It includes all of Lagartijo, Taguaza, and Taguacita River Basins and parts of the Cuira and Orituco River Basins, which supply water to the city of Caracas and nearby towns in the Valles de Tuy (Tuy Valleys) and Central Highland Plains. There are three dams within the park, the Lagartijo, Taguacita, and Taguaza, and there are plans for one more dam on the Cuira River. The Guanapito Dam on the Orituco River is nearby. The park protects important humid forests and great biological diversity.

Guatopo National Park is an important biological diversity refuge in the Cordillera de la Costa region and it is an important source of water for Caracas and other nearby communities. It is one of the best-conserved protected areas within Venezuela's national parks system due to its successful management and administration; the way the eviction and relocation program was handled during Guatopo's early years was especially successful. Despite these strengths, threats such as illegal hunting, illegal logging, and agriculture within the eastern Cuira Basin, endanger the park's biological diversity. Therefore, certain measures are needed; remaining inhabitants should be evicted and relocated outside of the park, more equipment should be purchased, and the budget should be increased in order to hire additional park guards and improve vigilance and monitoring.

History

This park was created thanks to the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry's vision to plan for Caracas' water supply. They created ambitious forest, soil, and watershed conservation programs. They realized that Guatopo possessed a wealth of water that could be used to increase the water supplies of Caracas and neighboring towns. Such was the principal objective of that park's creation and the force that has driven its management ever since.

Geography

The park is predominantly covered by tropical moist forest streaked by numerous streams and rivers, and nurtures a rich and varied wildlife. Several species of orchid flourish amid the typical rainforest vegetation. Resident fauna includes jaguars, pumas, ocelots, margays, tapirs, giant armadillos, opossums, peccaries, capuchin and red howler monkeys, vipers, rattlesnakes, fer-de-lance, boas and coral snakes. A birdwatcher's paradise, the park abounds with species such as harpy eagles, macaws, toucans, parrotlets, curassows, hawks, hummingbirds, chachalacas, caciques and green jays. The climate varies with altitude, and temperatures range from 14ºC to 32ºC. The park offers plenty of good hiking trails and camping facilities, and has a road link to Caracas serviced by regular buses.