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Caño Negro Wildlife Refuge

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Caño Negro a hideaway of wildlife, history and traditions.

  The history of Caño Negro begins at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. At the beginning, the first settlers came looking for the rubber tree, extracted the latex and returned to Nicaragua to sell it. Later, some people decided to settle in the area, so the first settler settled on an island, in 1910, she was called Juana Sandoval, then came other families such as: Sequeira, Romero, Rodríguez, Gutiérrez, Duarte, García and more. Many of these families took land on the banks of the Caño Negro River, in the middle of the wetlands because the river was the way of communication with San Carlos, Nicaragua, the nearest city and the best place to get some things they needed like: candles, soap, clothes, etc. They produced trees, beans, sugar cane, cocoa and orange, the latter two used as money in Nicaragua.

  The first school was on an island, then Reynaldo Ballestero (teacher) talked to the townspeople and they moved it from where it is now, then Leonidas Sequeira Duarte offers the property and all the parents worked to build the school, that happens in about 1945. 

  In 1984, MINAET (Ministry of the Environment) declared Caño Negro a protected wildlife area (National Wildlife Refuge) to protect wetlands and began talking to the community about the importance of the site and suggested that they consider working in tourism.

  In 1991, the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands declared Caño Negro a Ramsar Site because it receives and protects a large number of migratory waterbirds. In 2007 UNESCO formed the Biosphere Reserve Peace and Water and named Caño Negro the heart of it.

 

  Costa Rica is renowned for its vast biodiversity, but it is in Caño Negro that there are many elements that make this a lush place. Throughout the year the refuge offers beautiful landscapes and a variety of flora and fauna, in its entrails protects mammals, reptiles, amphibians, molluscs, insects, birds, trees, plants, palm trees and fish, including the emblem of our canton, the gaspar fish. The wetland’s position is so strategic that it is influenced by Pacific and Caribbean winds, which give rise to a great variety of microclimates and these in turn give way to diverse ecosystems that hypnotize animals and there are no species that can resist. to participate in the show all year round.

 

  In this special place, nature and people are in search of the balance that allows both parties to be benefited by discovering in ecotourism a great contribution of which you can be part

  Dare to explore this magical place as you meet and learn about the essence of Caño Negro its people, its traditions and with all the wealth that is in it.

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