Page 90 - CARIBE TOURIST GUIDE

Gandoca Manzanillo
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portion is comprised of grasslands and forests, and is home to crocodiles, tapirs and tepezcuintles.
Location
The refuge is located on the southeastern Caribbean coast between the mouth of Río Cocles and Río Sixaola in the province of Limón, Talamanca canton, Sixaola district. The Manzanillo sector can be accessed by following the main road of Puerto Viejo, itself 71 km from the center of Limón, while access to the Laguna Gandoca sector is through the Bribri-Sixaola road, 95 km from the center of Limón.
Climate
It follows the general climatic pattern typical of the southern Costa Rican Caribbean coast, with precipitation decreasing between January-April and September-October.
Importance
The refuge includes a protected reef of around 5 km2 in size that extends over Punta Uva, Manzanillo and Punta Mona. The coral species living here include brain coral and sea fans. It also protects the only natural habitat of the mangrove oyster, Crassostrea rhizophorae, within the coastline reef area. Furthermore, it protects many species of wildlife that are endangered or whose populations have been reduced.
It has a lagoon, which is why this portion of the Atlantic coast is classified as tropical humid forest.
The remaining primary forest in this area is of unique value because of the relatively small area covered by this forest type along the lowlands of the Atlantic coast. South of Punta Mona there is the only remnant of Prioria copaifera forest in the country’s southern Caribbean.
In the refuge, there is only one life zone: the humid tropical forest.
The area has a great diversity of terrestrial habitats, with patches of primary forests and numerous freshwater and marine habitats, including the best- preserved coral reef on the Caribbean coast. The reserve protects the habitat of endangered species such as manatees and sea turtles.
The flora of the southern Caribbean region, particularly in the Gandoca-Manzanillo and Sixaola area, has a unique composition in many respects. One example of this is the high species richness, especially of Fabaceae, Rubiaceae, Araceae, Malvaceae and Melatomaceae (25% of the flora). Palms, with 35 species recorded, are a very distinctive and abundant component of the understory
The refuge has 1,209 species of vascular plants, belonging to 630 genera and 152 families.