User:Co2tropicaltrees/Reserva Natural La Pedregoza

Reserva Natural La Pedregoza is located some 55 kilometers from the Orinoco river port city of Puerto Carreño in the Colombian Department of Vichada. This natural reserve is on the banks of the Rio el Bita river and consists of riparian forest or inundation forest, some gallery forest and some morichals, or heavily treed savannah drainage creeks flowing into the Rio el Bita. At present La Pedregoza is some 4.57 square kilometers in size with a future expansion planned to include some additional area morichals. Access to this natural reserve is by road from Puerto Carreño over the Paso Ganado bridge, or by boat from the Orinoco river and then up the Rio el Bita river. Geographically La Pedregoza is in the Orinoco basin of the llanos oriental or eastern plains of Colombia. La Pedregoza means Rocky Place in Spanish, due to the endemic red ferrous gravel common to the area.

A Canadian family founded Reserva Natural La Pedregoza for the express purpose of conservation of native tree species and the preservation of endangered wildlife in the Orinoco basin of Vichada. Colombia's Ley 99 de 1993 environmental law allows private land owners to register natural reserves for areas of ecological or environmental value. The land owner has the option of retaining title to the land or transferring title. The founders of La Pedregoza have opted to create a separate foundation under Colombian law charged with the ownership, operation and maintenance of this natural reserve. La Pedregoza is one of a number of natural reserves in Vichada that provide refuge for wildlife travelling along rivers or morichals on their way to the Orinoco river or the El Tuparro National Park. Other area natural reserves include Nimajay and Bojonawi.

Important native tree species in the Reserva Natural La Pedregoza include Saladillo (Caraipa llanorum), Congrio (Acosmium nitens), Aceita Maria (Calophyllum mariae), Sassafras (Ocotea cymbarum), Yopo (Anadenanthera peregrina) and Moriche Palm (Mauritia flexuosa). Wildlife includes the giant otter (Pteronura brasiliensis), the anaconda (Eunectes murinus), scarlet macaw (Ara macao), capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris), pink river dolphin (Inia geoffrensis) and 3 species of river turtle (Podocnemis expansa, unifilis and vogli), to name just a very few. The morichals located within the natural reserve are home to numerous species of decorative fish. The reserve also boast a wide variety of bird life, including migratory neotropical birds. --Dexter Dombro 21:50, 2 March 2010 (UTC)