Pic Macaya National Park (French: Parc National Pic Macaya) is one of the two largest national parks in Haiti. It is located in the southern peninsula of the country, within the Massif de la Hotte region. The park is home to Haiti’s last remaining untouched cloud forest and covers more than 8,000 hectares. The rough terrain reaches a maximum height of 2,347 meters (7,700 feet) at Pic Macaya (Macaya Peak), which is the second-highest point in Haiti, after Pic la Selle. Most of the park includes two tall peaks: Pic Macaya and Pic Formon.
The park was established in 1984 during the leadership of Jean-Claude Duvalier. It originally covered about 2,000 hectares but was expanded to more than 8,000 hectares in March 2013 as part of the Macaya Project. In December 2012, $12 million was promised by international groups, such as the Inter-American Development Bank and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation, to support the park through 2017. This effort focuses on protecting natural resources by improving land management, including reforesting damaged areas, building structures to reduce erosion from flooding, and enforcing rules to safeguard the park’s plant and animal life. A major challenge is the practice of "charcoal burning," where people burn large amounts of plant material to make charcoal, which is sold for profit.
The Massif de la Hotte mountains are mostly made of limestone and volcanic rock. The park is home to many endangered plants and animals, some of which are found only on the island of Hispaniola. There are 220 bird species, 141 orchid species, and 367 flowering plants in the park. Scientists have spotted six frog species thought to be extinct in the area in recent years. Over 6,500 plant species live in the park.
Humid forests on limestone are found between 850 and 1,250 meters in elevation. At higher elevations, the park has a mix of open pine forests and denser cloud forests. All three forest types support many species that are found only in this region. The main tree in pine forests is Pinus occidentalis, which sometimes grows tall in cloud forests. Underneath the pine trees, blackberry plants, ferns, and scattered shrubs and small trees grow. The main tree in cloud forests is Frodinia tremula, with smaller trees and shrubs such as Garrya fadyenii, Myrsine coriacea, Brunellia comocladiifolia, Persea hypoleuca, Weinmannia pinnata, Cestrum coelophlebium, and Miconia spp. Other plants include tree ferns like Cyathea harrisii and Alsophila minor, and climbing bamboo Arthrostylidium haitiense. The distribution of pine and cloud forests depends on soil type, rainfall, sunlight exposure, and damage from fires and hurricanes. Frequent fires help pine trees grow but harm young broadleaf trees.