Machalilla National Park

Machalilla National Park is a preserve in the Ecuadorian Manabí Province near Puerto López and the rural parish of Machalilla, a small fishing village in the vicinity of the park.Established in 1979, Machalilla National Park near Puerto Lopéz rests along the Pacific coast. It incorporates beaches, fog forest, dry forest, small islands and two larger islands, Salango and Isla de la Plata, the latter named for a legendary hoard of silver left by Sir Francis Drake.In 1990 the park was named an internationally important wetland under the Ramsar Convention. Wildlife includes armadillos, two species of monkeys and birds of more than 270 species. Many of the large mammals in Machalilla National Park are regionally and locally endangered. Machalilla National Park is the only habitat outside of the Galapagos Islands of waved albatross. The only known records of the Belted Kingfisher in Ecuador also come from the coastland of Ecuador. The ocean regions of the park also provide a breeding ground for humpback whales. Vegetation includes opuntia cactus, palo santo trees, kapok trees and the algaroba tree. Most of the tropical scrub desert and forest of western Ecuador, once 25% but now only 1%, can be found in the park.