Канайма ұлттық паркі: Венесуэланың табиғи кереметі

National park in Venezuela

Canaima National Park (lang es) is a park in south eastern Venezuela that roughly occupies the same area as the Gran Sabana region. It is located in Bolívar State, reaching the borders with Brazil and Guyana. The park was named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

Canaima National Park was established on 12 June 1962. As early as 1990, the countries that participate in the Amazonian Cooperation Treaty had recommended expanding the Canaima National Park southward to connect it with Monte Roraima National Park in Brazil, with coordinated management of tourism, research and conservation. In 1994, the Canaima National Park was named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The International Union for Conservation of Nature performed a conservation assessment in 2017, which listed Canaima National Park as an area of significant concern, citing ineffective protection and management.

Canaima National Park is the second largest park in Venezuela, after Parima Tapirapecó, and sixth biggest national park in the world. It is roughly the same size as Belgium or Maryland. The park protects part of the Guayanan Highlands moist forests ecoregion. About 65% of the park is occupied by plateaus of rock called tepuis, which are a kind of table top mountain millions of years old, with vertical walls and almost flat tops. These constitute a unique biological environment and are also of great geological interest. Their sheer cliffs and waterfalls including Angel Falls, which is the highest waterfall in the world, at
The most famous tepuis in the park are Mount Roraima, the tallest and easiest to climb, and Auyantepui, the site of Angel Falls. The tepuis are sandstone and date back to a time when South America and Africa were part of a super continent. The park is home to indigenous Pemon Indians, part of the Carib linguistic group. The Pemon have an intimate relationship with the tepuis, and believe they are the home of the 'Mawari' spirits. The park is relatively remote, with only a few roads connecting towns. Most transport within the park is done by light plane from the airstrips built by various Capuchin missions, or by foot and canoe.

There are over 300 botanical species endemic only to La Gran Sabana. Endemic flora includes Achnopogon, Adenanthe, Chimantaea, Mallophyton, Quelchia, Tepuia. Endemic carnivorous plants include the Heliamphora (South American pitcher plants) and Brocchinia (a type of bromeliad), as well as several local species of Drosera (sundews), Genlisea (corkscrew plants) and Utricularia (bladderworts).

The park includes the entire watershed of the right bank of the Caroní River and two of the highest waterfalls in the world, the Angel Falls and the Kukenán, as well as plenty of waterfalls of lower altitude.

The only land form are the tepuis, that are plateaus which are unique features, among which are its vertical and nearly flat tops, although there are several tepuies that do not meet these rules. Geologically are remnants of a sedimentary cover composed of very ancient sandstone that is superimposed on a base of igneous rocks (mainly granite) that is even older (nearly 3 billion years). On its summit is home to a substantial amount of specific endemic species, both plant and animal. Some endemic plant species are categorized as "carnivorous", which are thus the food supply (mainly insects) that are so scarce in the mountains. These have a geological formations ranging between 1.5 and 2 billion years, which makes them one of the oldest formations in the world. The best known tepuies are: the Auyantepuy (where it follows the Angel Falls), the Roraima, the Kukenan and the Chimantá among many others.

Canaima is the name given to the fictional Californian coastal town where the movie Arachnophobia is supposed to take place.