Noel Kempff Mercado National Park

Noel Kempff Mercado National Park
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The Noel Kempff Mercado National Park, located in the Amazon Basin, is one of the most biologically diverse areas in the world. 

Ranging in altitude from 200 to 1000m, the park has Cerrado savannah, seasonally flooded forests, wetlands and evergreen rainforests. An estimated 4,000 species of flora as well as over 600 bird species and viable populations of many globally endangered or threatened vertebrate species live in the park. Among these are the giant otter, giant anteater, hyacinth macaw, giant armadillo, pink river dolphin, maned wolf, marsh and pampas deer.

Community Perspective: this site has not been reviewed yet. It has been virtually inaccessible for decades due to neglect and the production of illegal drugs. An update (2023) on the current possibilities can be found here in our Forum. 

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Zoë Sheng

Chinese-Canadian - 02-Jan-24 -

Noel Kempff (NK from now on) is a unique savannah but also has rainforest area - but no, you won't get stuck in a jungle and whack through the thick bush with machetes. You still get plenty of rain, mosquitoes, malaria, ants and the lot. The reason is that NK is quite wild and forgotten, not even the tours go there anymore. I went there 5 years ago with Ruta Verde and since then they stopped doing that, or at least I think they did because last time I asked for a custom tour for a small group and they just declined. The lodges, more or less walls with bedsheets inside, were not nice to begin with and Covid probably killed off the little market there was anyway.

One flies in from Santa Cruz which means another flight to there in the first place but if you are visiting the rest of Bolivia's sights then you will be there anyway. The tour was 4 days (3 tough nights) and every day one would go out trekking and drive on the muddy roads in 4x4s. As you are in a rainforest the types of animals are more like deer, armadillos, anteaters, plenty of birdlife and otters when you do the river tour. The main attraction to look out for would be a puma or jaguar but no luck for me. It's not uncommon to see howler monkeys.

NK is a unique experience but it's a tough trip and it costs quite a sum.

Edit: after posting I realized there have been reports in our forum that the area is no off-limits (or red zone) due to drug production so I guess the government would have to raid and clear the area before anything is open up again

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Site Info

Full Name
Noel Kempff Mercado National Park
Unesco ID
967
Country
Bolivia
Inscribed
2000
Type
Natural
Criteria
9 10
Categories
Natural landscape - Diverse ecosystems
Link
By ID

Site History

2000 Inscribed

Site Links

Unesco Website
Noel Kempff Mercado National Park
Related

Parque NacionalNoel Kempff Mercado

In the News

A Huge Cocaine Lab Was Found Inside Noel Kempff Mercado National Park (2022.03.10)

Locations

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Noel Kempff Mercado National Park

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Ecology
Turtles and tortoises: Habitat of yellow-spotted river turtle
Big Waterfalls: Catarata Arco Iris
River Dolphins: Amazonian River Dolphin "Viable populations exist of many globally endangered or threatened large vertebrates including the .... pink river dolphin" (AB)
Otters: Giant otter
Rainforests
Crocodiles: broad-snouted caiman, black caiman
Orchids: 110 species of orchids are recorded from the Park (UNEP-WCMC)
Sloths: brown-throated sloth, two-toed sloth
Anteaters: giant anteater, silky anteater
High-Biodiversity Wilderness Area: Amazonia
Jaguar habitat
Geography
Amazon Basin: "The National Park is one of the largest (1,523,000 ha) and most intact parks in the Amazon Basin." (official description) - The Guaporé (Río Iténez) is part of the Madeira River basin, which eventually empties into the Amazon River. (wiki)
On National Border: On Brasil border
History
Assassinations: "During a field campaign in the Huanchaca National Park in 1986 he and several other scientists discovered a cocaine factory in the Bolivian forest. Kempff Mercado and most of the scientists were killed by the criminals. The Huanchaca National Park was renamed in 1988 as Noel Kempff Mercado National Park." (wiki)
Human Activity
Natural sites with indigenous human population: Guarayu
Timeline
Holocene: Pollen and charcoal records from two large, shallow lakes reveal that throughout most of the past 50,000 yr Noel Kempff Mercado National Park, in northeastern lowland Bolivia (southwestern Amazon Basin), was predominantly covered by savannas and seasonally dry semideciduous forests.
Visiting conditions
One thousand visitors or fewer: “Tourism to the park is currently extremely limited--less than a thousand visitors per year” (AB ev)
WHS Names
Named after individual people: Prof. Noel Kempff Mercado
WHS on Other Lists
World Heritage Forest Programme
Plant WHS not in a CPD: "The site also contains a high diversity of plant and animal species" (OUV), "An estimated 4,000 species of flora .. live in the park. (Official Description Unesco website)

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