Podocarpus National Park (Spanish: Parque Nacional Podocarpus) is a protected area in the provinces of Zamora Chinchipe and Loja, in the southeast of Ecuador. It was established in 1982. The park covers an area of 1,462.8 square kilometers (564.8 square miles), stretching from parts of the eastern Andes mountain range to the basins of the Nangaritza, Numbala, and Loyola rivers.
Llanganates National Park (Spanish: Parque Nacional Llanganates) is a protected area in Ecuador located in the Cotopaxi Province, Napo Province, Pastaza Province, and Tungurahua Province. Inside the park is Cerro Hermoso, which means “beautiful mountain” in Spanish. This mountain is 4,570 meters (14,990 feet) high and is a well-known place for hiking.
Cayambe Coca National Park is a protected area in Ecuador, situated near the Equator and approximately 38 kilometers (24 miles) from the city of Quito. The park covers a total area of 4,031.03 square kilometers (996,090 acres).
The Utría National Natural Park (Spanish: Parque Nacional Natural Ensenada de Utría) is a protected area located in the Chocó Department of Colombia. The park is home to a wide variety of plant and animal life in thick rainforests with mountains. It receives some of the highest rainfall in the world, up to 10,000 millimeters (about 390 inches) each year.
Inagua National Park is a national park located on the island of Great Inagua in The Bahamas. It was created in 1965 and covers an area of 220,000 acres (890 km). As early as 1904, people became worried about the number of West Indian flamingos.
The Tayrona National Natural Park (Spanish: Parque Nacional Natural Tayrona) is a protected area in northern Colombia, near the city of Santa Marta, 34 kilometers (21 miles) from the city center. The park is home to plants and animals found only in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountain range. It has many different climates and land features, from dry areas at sea level to places 900 meters above sea level.
Sumapaz Páramo (Spanish: Páramo de Sumapaz, meaning “Utterly peaceful moorland”) is a large páramo area located in the Altiplano Cundiboyacense mountain range. It is considered the largest páramo ecosystem in the world. In 1977, it was named a National Park of Colombia because it is an important area for many different plants and animals and serves as the main source of water for the most crowded region of the country, the Bogotá savanna.
The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (English: Snow-Covered Mountain Range of Saint Martha) is a mountain range in northern Colombia that is separate from the Andes range found in the north of the country. It reaches an elevation of 5,700 meters (18,700 feet), just 42 kilometers (26 miles) from the Caribbean coast. This makes the Sierra Nevada the highest coastal range in the tropics and one of the highest coastal ranges in the world, only 250 meters (820 feet) shorter than the Saint Elias Mountains in Canada.
The Salamanca Island Road Park (Spanish: Vía Parque Isla de Salamanca) is a national park in the Caribbean Region of Colombia, near the city of Ciénaga in the Magdalena Department. The park has many plants and animals because fresh water from the Magdalena River mixes with salt water from the Caribbean Sea. It was created in 1964 to protect birds and coastal mangroves.
The Puracé National Natural Park (Spanish: Parque Nacional Natural Puracé) is a protected area in the Andean region of Colombia. It is located southeast of the city of Popayán in the Cordillera Central mountain range. The park’s most important feature is the active volcano Puracé, which is one of Colombia’s most active volcanoes.