Piedras Blancas National Park

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Piedras Blancas National Park
IUCN Category II (National Park)
Location:	Costa Rica
Nearest city:	Palmar
Area:	34,642 acres (140 km²)
Established:	17 July 1991
Governing body:	National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC)

Piedras Blancas National Park is a National Park part of the Osa Conservation Area it is found in the Puntarenas Province of southern Costa Rica near the town of La Gamba. It protects rainforests and beaches near the Golfo Dulce on the Pacific Coast. It used to operate as part of the Corcovado National Park called the Esquinas Sector from 1991 before becoming a separate park in 1999.

The rugged mountains and watersheds of both the Esquinas and Piedras Blancas rivers are covered in dense evergreen forest that is home to a number of rare tropical trees and the habitat of many species of birds, mammals and reptiles.

Some of the park has remained in private hands, however a charitable organisation Rainforest of the Austrians (Regenwald der Osterreicher) has been raising funds and purchasing these, which up to 2005 had moved 31 km² of land in the area into public ownership.