The Tumbes Reserved Zone is a 751 square kilometre coastal ecological reserve in the Tumbes Region

Tumbes Region

Tumbes is a coastal region in northwestern Peru and southwestern Ecuador. Due to the region's location near the Equator it has a warm climate, with beaches that are considered among the finest in Peru...

 of northern Peru

Peru

Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....

, near the border of Ecuador

Ecuador

Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...

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Its purpose is to protect both animal and floral species found in the subtropical, relatively hilly dry tropical forest, species that developed in these unique environmental conditions, separated from similar Amazonian species from the Andes Mountains. These species include the mantled howler monkey

Mantled Howler

The mantled howler , or golden-mantled howling monkey, is a species of howler monkey, a type of New World monkey, from Central and South America. It is one of the monkey species most often seen and heard in the wild in Central America...

 (Alouatta palliata), the American crocodile

American Crocodile

The American crocodile is a species of crocodilian found in the Neotropics. It is the most widespread of the four extant species of crocodiles from the Americas. Populations occur from the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of southern Mexico to South America as far as Peru and Venezuela. It also lives...

 (Crocodylus acutus), the jaguar

Jaguar

The jaguar is a big cat, a feline in the Panthera genus, and is the only Panthera species found in the Americas. The jaguar is the third-largest feline after the tiger and the lion, and the largest in the Western Hemisphere. The jaguar's present range extends from Southern United States and Mexico...

 (Panther onca), and the huamburushu, or Margay

Margay

The Margay is a spotted cat native to Middle and South America. Named for Prince Maximilian of Wied-Neuwied, it is a solitary and nocturnal animal that prefers remote sections of the rainforest. Although it was once believed to be vulnerable to extinction, the IUCN now lists it as "Near Threatened"...

 (Leopardus wiedii), along with others.

The Tumbes Reserved Zone and its two neighboring protected areas, Peru's Cerros de Amotape National Park

Cerros de Amotape National Park

The Amotape Hills National Park is located around the Amotape District, in the northern section of the Piura Region and the extreme southern section of the Tumbes Region in Peru. It is the best well kept example of equatorial dry forests in the whole Pacific region...

 and the El Angolo Game Preserve

El Angolo Hunting enclosed land

-Description:This hunting preserve in the region of Piura, provinces of Sullana and Talara was established July 1, 1975 through law. It has an area of 650 square kilometres....

, make up the Noroeste Biosphere Reserve. The Cerros de Amotape park is considered the core zone, and the game preserve and Tumbres Reserved Zone are considered buffers. This ecoregion scheme has been recognized by UNESCO

UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...

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