Desembarco del Granma National Park (Spanish: Parque Nacional Desembarco del Granma) is a national park in south-western Cuba. It is located in the Niquero and Pilón municipalities, which are now part of Granma Province. The name of the park means "Landing of the Granma" and refers to the yacht used by Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, Raúl Castro, and 79 of their supporters. These people traveled from Mexico to Cuba in 1956 and helped start the Cuban Revolution. The park is known for its karst landscape and coastal cliffs.

The park covers a total area of 32,576 hectares. Of this, 26,180 hectares are land, and 6,396 hectares are marine areas. In 1999, UNESCO listed the park as a World Heritage Site because of its raised sea terraces and untouched sea cliffs.

Description

Desembarco del Granma National Park is found on the western side of the Sierra Maestra mountain range, near an area where the North American Plate and Caribbean Plate move. The park protects a series of limestone terraces that extend from 180 meters below sea level to 360 meters above. These terraces were probably created by tectonic movements and changes in sea level caused by past climate changes and ice ages during the Miocene, Pliocene, and Pleistocene periods. These terraces are among the largest and most well-preserved in the world. The park also protects other karst features, such as waterfalls, cliffs, sinkholes, and caves.

The park is in a warm, semi-arid climate, receiving between 300 and 1200 mm of rainfall each year. The average temperature is 26°C. This makes it one of the warmest and driest places in Cuba.

Biodiversity

The national park has a lot of different plants and animals, many of which are found only in Cuba. More than 512 plant species live in the park, and 60% of them are found nowhere else in the world. Twelve of these plants are found only in this park. The park also protects homes for 6 types of painted snails (Polymita spp.), including several different kinds that evolved separately. Thirteen mammals, 110 birds, 44 reptiles, and 17 amphibians live in the park. More than 90% of the frogs, toads, lizards, and snakes found in the park are found only in Cuba, including the endangered Cuban night lizard. Birds that live in the park include the Cuban amazon parrot and the blue-headed quail-dove. Mammals found in the park include the West Indian manatee and the Cuban flower bat, which lives in hot caves.