Palo Verde. 27/12/91; Guanacaste; 24,519 ha; 10°20'N 085°20'W. Added to the Montreux Record, 16 June 1993. National Park. Extensive estuarine complex of permanent, shallow, freshwater lagoons, associated marshes and seasonally flooded woodland and mangroves of the lower Tempisque River. An extremely important area for various species of nesting, staging and wintering waterbirds, Nearctic-breeding species, the stork Jabiru mycteria and in the dry season up to 20,000 Dendrocygna autumnalis. Other fauna include iguana and two species of crocodiles. Human activities in the surrounding area include rice and sugar-cane cultivation. Added to the Montreux Record in 1993 because of a major fire. Subject of ain 1998. Boundaries extended in September 2002. Ramsar site no. 540. Most recent RIS information: 2001.