Page 10 - AHATA

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local Monday 25 noveMber 2024
National Park Arikok: Aruba’s biggest nature conservation

There is a great geological the land. These families
variety within the park. The found ways to survive in
main aspects are the rough the difficult conditions, and
hills of the volcanic Aruba were able to erect their
lava formation, the mysteri- homes with materials found
ous rocks of the batholithic in the area. Two of these
quartz-diorite/tonalite, and adobe houses have been
the limestone rocks from restored. Park rangers are
fossilized coral. The two learning many of the old
The National Park Arikok is available. tallest hills on the island are building techniques in or-
comprises almost 18 % of Nature Conservation situated within the park. der to preserve this unique
the island. Its rugged ter- Did you know that four of The protected area of Na- Jamanota hill 188 meters Aruban mud-house. At Cu-
rain, desert-like hills filled the in total seven species tional Park Arikok was of- (617 ft) and Arikok hill 176 nucu Arikok and near Plan-
with tall cacti, breathtaking of sea turtle lay their eggs ficially established in 2000. meters (577 ft), from which tation Prins you can find
coastline and protected on Aruba's beaches? In Arikok National Park is a the name of the park is de- these adobe houses.
local flora and fauna wel- the national park, a Least 34 square kilometers (7907 rived.
come you to be explored. Tern (Sternula antillarum) acres) of natural area, lo- Park Management
There are numerous ani- keeps a strict eye on a very cated at the north-eastern The line of the permanently For the management of
mals to discover, for ex- special event taking place part of Aruba which con- wind-and-wave beaten the park, a dedicated
ample the sea turtle who below on the beach: a tains examples of most of North Coast is broken by foundation “Fundacion
lays his eggs on the park’s majestic Leatherback (Der- the island’s flora and fau- several bays (boca’s). Most Parke Nacional Arikok”
beaches. mochelys coriacea) heads na against a backdrop of of them are small yet im- (FPNA), known today as
back to sea after laying her great geological complex- pressive inlets at the mouth the Aruba National Park
The national park Arikok eggs, while another nest ity. We are proud to state of dry riverbeds. Some Foundation was estab-
takes you on a memorable laid 2 months ago by the that approximately 18% of these bays (boca’s) lished in July 2003. In Feb-
journey of the islands past same female hatches— of the total land area of are spectacular sights, ruary 2017, mangrove and
offering unique geological, a very rare occurrence Aruba is assigned as a Na- adorned with white, sandy wetland RAMSAR site #198
cultural and historical sites. of daytime nesting and tional Park, to protect and beaches and sand dunes, Spanish Lagoon was an-
These can all be enjoyed hatching. Sea turtles pre- preserve the flora, fauna, as is the case at Boca Prins nexed to Arikok National
and explored either on fer nesting in the cool and geology and historical re- and Dos Playa. Park due to its importance
your own or during guided dark hours of the night. And mains present within Arikok as a feeding and breeding
tours. A wide variety of ed- hatchlings usually wait for National Park. Arikok is also home to Con- area for water birds and as
ucational and informative the cue of cooling surface chi, Aruba’s most impor- a nursery area for a variety
programs and fun activities sand before emerging. The Landscape tant natural attraction; also of marine organisms. With
known as The Natural Pool. this addition, the areas un-
The journey to the Pool is der FPNA management
and adventure by itself and increased by 70 hectares
only possible by foot, horse, while the amount of spe-
ATV or 4×4 vehicle. cies of flora and fauna to
be conserved to over 250.
Cultural and Historical On December 21st, 2018
components (AB 2018 no. 77) Parke Ma-
There are a number of sites rino Aruba – currently con-
within the park that attest sisting of four marine pro-
to the history of Aruba. The tected areas (MPAs) – was
Caquetío Indians left rock officially established and
paintings in Cunucu Arikok subsequently brought un-
and Fontein Cave. The bird der management of FPNA.
drawing in the park logo is In 2019 management plans
a copy of one of these his- will be established for the
torical artistic expressions. new MPAs which include:
coral reefs, sea grass beds,
Old plantation (Cunucus) mangrove systems, a large
sites tell the story of an ac- diversity of breeding sea-
tive yet challenging agri- birds. Parke Marino Aruba
cultural past. also contains potential
shark nursery areas, en-
These Cunucus were also dangered sea turtle nest-
residential areas for the ing beaches and marine
few families that worked mammal nursery areas.q