Sumapaz Páramo
| Páramo de Sumapaz | |
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IUCN category II (national park)
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Páramo de Sumapaz is the largest páramo ecosystem worldwide
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| Location | Cundinamarca |
| Nearest city | Bogotá |
| Coordinates | 4°25′N 74°6′W / 4.417°N 74.100°WCoordinates: 4°25′N 74°6′W / 4.417°N 74.100°W |
| Area | 178,000 hectares |
| Established | 1977 |
| Governing body | SINAP |
Sumapaz Páramo (Spanish: Páramo de Sumapaz - meaning "Utterly peaceful moorland" ) is a large páramo ecosystem located in the Altiplano Cundiboyacense mountain range, considered the largest páramo ecosystem in the world. It was declared a National Park of Colombia in 1977 because of its importance as a biodiversity hotspot and main source of water for the most densely populated area of the country, the Bogotá savanna.
Sumapaz Páramo was considered a sacred place for the Muisca indigenous people. It was associated with the divine forces of creation and the origin of mankind, a domain where humans were not supposed to enter.
During the 16th century, German adventurer and conquistador Nikolaus Federmann conducted an expedition crossing the Sumapaz, searching for El Dorado mythic treasure, with heavy casualties. The place was named by the Spaniards "País de la Niebla" ("Country of Fog") because of the dense clouds at ground level, with great decrease in visibility.
In 1783, José Celestino Mutis led the Botanic Expedition, with the purpose of studying the flora and fauna of the region. However, the páramo was not visited because of its harsh climatic conditions. The German naturalist Alexander von Humboldt made the first description of the páramo and the local plants in 1799. He also described the presence of glacier valleys and associated the geologic features of the region, comparing them with those seen in the geomorphology of the Alps.
During the early 20th century, the Spanish naturalist José Cuatrecasas made important research of the páramo and the tree line. Other scientists that described and studied Sumapaz páramo were Ernesto Guhl, who conducted a long-term 3-decade research of the vegetal communities, and Thomas van der Hammen.
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