Location: Los Lagos Region
Area: 393 km²
Alerce Andino National Park is a protected area situated in Los
Lagos Region of Chile. It covers a total area of 393 km². It is
surrounded by the Reloncaví Estuary on its east and south sides, and
by the Reloncaví Sound to the west. On the north side of Alerce
Andino National Park is bounded by Chapo Lake.
Alerce Andino
National Park contains about 50 lakes and natural ponds each with
its unique biosphere. It is also a magnet for large game and
carnivorous animals that follow them.
Management of this and
other national parks in Chile is entrusted to Corporacion Nacional
Forestal, CONAF.
One of the most common plant in this
mountainous protected region are the Fitzroya cupressoides (locally
known as Alerce) forests with a total surface of about 200 km².
The park is characterized by the large presence of
larches, which reach a height greater than 40 meters, and cover an
area of approximately 20 000 hectares, in addition the park has more
than fifty lagoons and natural pools.
The protected area also
houses a large amount of wildlife, including the pudu, the mountain
monkey, pumas, güiñas, chingues etc.
Visitors
This park receives Chilean and foreign visitors every year.
Flora
Most of the park is covered by virgin Valdivian forests of
the Alerce genus. Mainly cypress ficroja grows there, but also, among
others: aextoxicon punctatum, Eucryphia cordifolia, Tepualia stipularis.
Fauna
Mammals occurring in the park include: bamboo pouch,
southern poodle, Chilean ocelot, Andean skunk, fawn puma, Argentinean
puma.
Many species of birds live here, such as: the great condor,
the black-necked swan, the black-throated swan, the black-necked
woodpecker, the short-billed leprechaun, the red-throated kritonos, and
the black-throated turtledove.