Guadeloupe National Park
| Guadeloupe National Park | |
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IUCN category II (national park)
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| Location | Basse-Terre Island, Guadeloupe (France) |
| Coordinates | 16°5′0″N 61°41′0″W / 16.08333°N 61.68333°WCoordinates: 16°5′0″N 61°41′0″W / 16.08333°N 61.68333°W |
| Area | 173.0 km2 (66.8 sq mi) (core area) 162.0 km2 (62.5 sq mi) (buffer zone) 37.0 km2 (14.3 sq mi) (marine reserve) |
| Established | 1989 |
| Governing body | [1] |
Guadeloupe National Park (French: Parc national de la Guadeloupe) is a national park in Guadeloupe, an overseas department of France located in the Leeward Islands of the eastern Caribbean region. The Grand Cul-de-Sac Marin Nature Reserve (French: Réserve Naturelle du Grand Cul-de-Sac Marin) is a marine protected area adjacent to the park and administered in conjunction with it. Together, these protected areas comprise the Guadeloupe Archipelago (French: l'Archipel de la Guadeloupe) biosphere reserve.
The General Council of Guadeloupe created the Guadeloupe Natural Park in 1970 to recognize the exceptional biodiversity of Basse-Terre's tropical forest and mountain massif. Although it was initially placed under the management of the National Forests Office, proposals emerged in 1977 to establish a national park, in order to improve management and control of the park lands. These proposals came to fruition on 20 February 1989 with the official establishment of Guadeloupe National Park.
The Grand Cul-de-Sac Marin Nature Reserve was established in 1987, and subsequently placed under the management of the park.
In 1992, Guadeloupe National Park achieved international recognition when the core area of the park and the Grand Cul-de-Sac Marin Nature Reserve were designated as an international biosphere reserve by UNESCO.
For most of its history, it was the only French national park outside of metropolitan France. However, it lost that distinction with the 2007 creation of Réunion National Park (Réunion) and Guiana Amazonian Park (French Guiana).
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