What is Machalilla National Park?
'''Machalilla National Park'''<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.machalillanationalpark.com/|title=Parque Nacional Machalilla|archive-date=2016-10-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161021154337/http://www.machalillanationalpark.com/|url-status=dead}}</ref> is an Ecuadorian park. It is located in the Pacific West coast of Ecuador in [[South America]]. It is in the province of Manabí. Machalilla National Park was declared by Minister of Environment of Ecuador as a park and natural preserve area on July 26, 1979. It was officially registered on November 20 of the same year. In 1990 the [[Ramsar Convention]] on Westlands named as a Ramsar site, which is a place where animals come to breed. The land part is 56.184 hectares and the water part is 14.430 nautical miles. [[File:Machalilla Ecuador506.JPG|alt=Los Frailes Beach|thumb|383x383px|Los Frailes Beach]] == Geography == Machalilla National Park is located at the Pacific West coast of [[Ecuador]] in South America. It is in the province of Manabí at the river banks of the Ayampe River. Nearest towns are Puerto Lopez and [http://latitude.to/map/ec/ecuador/cities/pajan Pajan.] Machalilla National Park has three areas: the north sector, the south area and Isla de la Plata. The north sector covers Puerto Cayo area, 3&nbsp;km parallel to the coast. The south sector covers Puerto Lopez and Island Salango, and the third area is The Isla de la Plata. It is 40&nbsp;km offshore from Ecuador continental. == Rivers == There are 7 rivers that cross the Machalilla National Park territory the [[Jipijapa]], Salitre, Seco, Punteros, Buena Vista, Piñas, and Ayampe. == Weather == The weather is tropical to subtropical. It has a very dry climate and there is rarely any rainfall. It rains an average of 161&nbsp;mm to 1,120&nbsp;mm per year. The temperature varies from 23&nbsp;°C to 25&nbsp;°C and remains the same year round. == Plants == The plans that grow in this area are; [[dry coast shrubland]], some ferns, cactus [[Prickly pear|(opuntia]]) ,[[palo santo]] tre