Los Katíos National Natural Park (Spanish: Parque Nacional Natural (PNN) Los Katíos) is a protected area in northwest Colombia. It covers about 720 square kilometers (280 square miles). The park’s elevation ranges from 50 to 600 meters (160 to 1,970 feet). It is part of the Darién Gap, a heavily forested area shared by Panama and Colombia. The park is connected to the Darién National Park in Panama. The Pan-American Highway, when completed as planned, would pass near or through Los Katíos. The park was recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994 because of the wide variety of plant and animal life found there.

The land in Los Katíos National Park has many different features, including low hills, forests, and wet, flat areas. The two largest areas of the park are the Serranía del Darién mountains in the west and the Atrato River floodplains in the east. The floodplains have very fertile soil and include two types of alluvial plains. One type has low, flat areas that flood often, while the other has higher, flatter areas that rarely flood. The park also has low hills up to 250 meters (820 feet) high and taller hills reaching 600 meters (2,000 feet). About half of the park is covered by swampy marshes. The wetlands in the Atrato floodplain are special. The Cativo tree, an indigenous species, can grow up to 50 meters (160 feet) tall. It gives its name to a unique formation called "catival," which is only found in Colombia, parts of Central America, and Jamaica.

Significance

Los Katíos National Park has very high biodiversity and, along with the nearby Darien National Park in Panama, is a place where many species are found only in this area. The park is home to at least 450 types of birds. In fact, more than 25% of all bird species found in Colombia live here, even though the park covers less than 1% of Colombia's land. Almost 20% of the plants in the park are found only in the Chocó-Darién moist forests.

Because of its location in northern Colombia, near the southern edge of the Central American land bridge, this area was a place where animals moved between North and South America during the Tertiary and Pleistocene periods. This movement still happens today, and Los Katíos is the only place in South America where many species from Central America are common, including yew trees, giant anteaters, and Central American tapirs.

The park also protects important natural features, such as the 25-meter-high Tendal waterfall, the 100-meter-high Tilupo waterfall, and the Tumaradó swamps.

In 1990, the park added walking paths and lodging for small groups of visitors. These visitors can enter the park through the park administration in Sautatá.

History

The region was originally lived in by the Guna, an indigenous group who, after fights within their group, had to give up the Choc region to the Katío-Embera and moved to Panama. The Darién region, where Los Katíos is located, was historically important for the first people who used a land bridge to move from North to South America about 20,000 years ago. During the time after Columbus discovered the Americas, Spanish explorers Rodrigo de Bastidas, Alonso de Ojeda, and Vasco Núñez de Balboa were the first to find this region in 1501.

In more recent years, about one percent of the park in the Sautatá area was used for farming, mainly to grow sugar cane. After the park was created in 1974, during the next seven years, the 150 or so families living there were moved to nearby towns, including Unguía, Puente América, Tumaradó, and Cacarica.

The park was added to the List of World Heritage in Danger in 2009 at the request of the Colombian government to address threats to its protection, including deforestation, illegal settlements, and hunting.

In 2015, the park was removed from the List of World Heritage in Danger because of important improvements in how the park was managed and because the government took actions to reduce illegal logging and overfishing.