National Park Cocuy

 in this blog we will talk about the national park cocuy:
The National Park Cocuy is one of 56 national parks of Colombia.1 is located in the center-east,on the border between the departments of Boyaca and Arauca, with an area of 306,000 ha (3060 km ²). The territory of the park is located within the municipal jurisdiction of Chita, theCocuy Güicán, El Espino, Cubará Chiscas and Boyaca, Casanare Sácama and Tame andFortul in Arauca. It was created by agreement of the Ministry of Agriculture No 0017 of May 2,1977.2
Within the jurisdiction of the park is the Sierra Nevada del Cocuy, Chita or training Güicánlocated on the northern mountain of the Cordillera Oriental in Boyacá department and consists of two parallel subcordilleras oriented north to south with a length of approximately 30 km. The highest point is in the eastern chain, Ritacuba White (5330 m) (the highest peak in the CordilleraOriental of the Andes in Colombia) and Black Ritacuba (5,300 m). The Sierra Nevada of Cocuyhas the largest glacier in Colombia, the lower limit of snow is 4,800 m high. There are 18mountain peaks that are covered by perpetual snow. In the area there are also numerous lakesand waterfalls. With its 30 km long and more than 22 peaks, is the continuous mass of South America's biggest snow in northern Ecuador. Located in the northeast of Boyaca and also covers the departments of Arauca and Casanare.

*ecosystems
The park has all the climatic zones that can be found within the Colombian territory, from theequatorial rain forest at 700 masl cloud forests between 1500 to 3000 m, then the area of ​​heath and moor to the super-4200 to the perpetual snows from 4800 up to 5330 meters culminating in the White Ritacuba.

*fauna
Due to the large variety of ecosystems, there is a diversity of fauna, among them can be found,the Andean condor (Vultur gryphus), golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), jaguar (Panthera onca), ocelot (Leopardus tigrinus), tapir moor (Tapirus pinchaque), white-tailed deer (Odocoileusvirginianus), the woolly monkey (Lagothrix lugens), the armadillo and the spectacled bear (Tremarctos ornatus). It is believed that the páramo tapir and spectacled bears no longer live within the park.




*vegetation
The vegetation is divided according to climatic zones found in the park, the forest is 700 mbordering piedmont area, which is badly damaged by the activity of settlers who are admittedfrom the region eastern plains in search of wood, as occurs in the high Andean forest zone,which is best preserved in the park areas that overlap with the U'wa indigenous reservation, in some upland areas of the park continue to present the burning and grazing land by U'wacommunities that follow the same process that upland settlers from causing major damage andlandslides, on the moor is located 5 of the 7 known species of frailejones, which can reach 5 min height, but the use of certain areas of the park like grazing sheep and cattle has deterioratedin this region, as well as super wilderness area where they are different kinds of quiches,isolated frailejones certain types of algae in wetlands. In the zone of perpetual snow, there is novegetation, except for rocky areas where certain types of bromeilas. apart from those mentioned there are several types of plants, especially of the cruciferous family and compound.Towards the western slope area are drier moors where plant species are represented as alder(Agnus acuminata), Colorado (Polylepis cuadriguja), straw Páramo (Calamagrostis effusive)and a large number of angiosperms belonging to 22 families and 42 genres.

*soils
It is composed of metamorphic rocks and sedimentary rocks.
*climate
Due to the vastness of the park, the weather ranges from warm, to warm and cold weather tomoor. The temperature ranges between -4 and 30 ° C.
*hydrography
The park irrigation to two watersheds, which are those of the Magdalena and Orinoco rivers, which flow both in the Caribbean Sea, the basin of the Magdalena River joins the hydrography of the park by the river Chicamocha, whose major tributary which descends from the park is theSnowy River. In the Orinoco basin is divided into two branches of Casanare and Arauca rivers, this river reaches Cobaria, and Rifles Bojaba born near the Laguna de Los Verdes.

*Arauca River Basin
Squig, Snakes, Orozco, Chuscal, La Union, Rifles, Cabugón, collapsed, Tamara, Cobaría, RoyatBojabá.
*gaps
Laguna Plaza, Laguna Grande de la Sierra, Lake of the Greens, Avellanal Lagoon, Laguna La Isla
*Communities present in the area
Within the park there are communities of settlers who came from the highlands to the west limit of the park and use it as grazing and cultivation in the lowlands are likewise settler communities that come from the plains region Orientals. There is also an Aboriginal community called indigenousU'wa region or Tunebo, which are within an overlapping shelter within the park area and engage in farming, grazing, hunting and fishing.