Manú National Park () is a national park and biosphere reserve located in the regions of Madre de Dios and Cusco in Peru. It protects a diverse number of ecosystems including lowland rainforests, cloud forests and Andean grasslands. History Manú National Park was established by decree on 29 May 1973; during the dictatorship of General Juan Velasco. In 1977, UNESCO recognised it as a Biosphere Reserve and in 1987, as a World Heritage Site. In 2002, the Peruvian government increased the extension of the park to its current area. Geography Manu National Park covers an area of which comprises mountainous areas (traversed by creeks and valleys) with elevations close to 4000 m above sea level and a portion of the Amazon Basin plains. The national park is divided in the following areas: the restricted use zone (with pristine forests and native communities, access is granted to researchers only); the reserved zone (for recreation and research); the recuperation zone (for the recovery of disturbed areas) and the cultural zone (for human settlement and most activities including nature tourism ). Climate Climate in the park is highly variable, rainy and depends on the elevation. The southern section (mountainous) has an annual precipitation between 1500–2000 mm; while in the middle section it is between 3000–3500 mm and in the northwestern section the annual precipitation reaches 8000 mm or more. The less rainy season is from May to September, accompanied by lower temperatures. In the park, the mean annual temperature in the lowland rainforest is 25.6 °C, while in the Andean zone it is 8 °C. Ecology Plants Vegetation types inside the park include puna grassland (in areas over 4000 m), high Andean forests, cloud forests and lowland Amazon rainforest. This variety of vegetation types is represented in 162 families, 1191 genera and 4385 identified species of plants, with as much as 250 tree species in one hectare. A study found a total of 1108 species of trees inside the park, from several plots between the mountain tree line and the lowland forest. Plant species found in the lowland rainforest zone of the park include: Bertholletia excelsa, Nectandra spp., Cedrelinga cateniformis, Socratea exorrhiza, Eugenia spp., Cedrela odorata, Brosimum lactescens, Iriartea deltoidea, Protium spp., Poulsenia armata, Cecropia spp., Inga spp., Margaritaria nobilis, Ceiba samauma, Solanum grandiflorum, Annona excellens, Calophyllum brasiliense, Simarouba amara, Maxillaria spp., Virola calophylla, Ficus spp., Trema micrantha, Hevea brasiliensis, Piper spp., Mauritia