Cocos Island National Park
Cocos Island is the only emerging area of the Cocos Ridge, a long submarine volcanic mountain range in the Costa Rican Pacific. It is located at 532 km. from the shore and boasts the largest pristine tropical rainforest area of the oceanic islands of the Tropical Eastern Pacific.
Several ocean currents converge upon this island which, added to its isolation, high rainfall and varied geology, account for the great diversity and endemism of its ecosystems.
The Cocos Island National Park protects a 24 km2 island area and a marine area of 1997 km2. The island was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1998 Its coral reefs are the result of larvae colonies transported by the North Equatorial Current for 5,000 km. from different islands in the Central Pacific. These reefs, considered until 1983 to be among the most developed in the Tropical Eastern Pacific, were devastated by the El Niño phenomenon during the period 1982-83, which led to the death of an estimated 90% of the coral.
If sedimentation, overfishing, the use of destructive fishing practices – all illegal within a marine protected area- are added to the El Niño phenomenon, the threat that hangs over the Park?s marine ecosystems is quite considerable.
The island waters and other surrounding habitats, especially the coral reefs and submarine mountains, serve as reproductive, feeding, resting and cleaning grounds for many highly migratory pelagic species such as the hammerhead shark.
