Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: Desert Park Prepares for Vacationer Onslaught

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CARACAS, Jul 27 2009 (IPS) - Venezuela's National Institute of Parks is preparing monitoring and crowd control measures for the 100,000 tourists expected during the August-September school vacation season at the Médanos de Coro National Park, 400 km northwest of the capital. Those 40,000 hectares are Venezuela's only desert. The park's picturesque dunes are threatened by erosion caused by motorcycles and other recreational vehicles.

“The dunes formed over millions of years… and any removal of the sands affects the vegetation, which is refuge and habitat for hundreds of species, including mammals, birds, reptiles and insects,” Miriam Díaz, a biologist who heads the regional institute for coastal research, told Tierramérica.

The collared anteater (Tamandua tetradactyla), the common fox, and the mouse opossum (Marmosa xerophila) are among the most endangered species.