El Yunque National Forest

Welcome to El Yunque

Greetings, website viewers from all over the world -- As a "Borinqueño" (a native son of Puerto Rico) I encourage you to visit us and take full advantage of El Yunque's many exciting features -- our island's premier eco-tourism location is the only tropical rain forest in the U.S. National Forest system!

The moment that you enter El Yunque you will discover that our friendly, professional staff is dedicated to the Forest Service mission of “Caring for the land and serving people.”

El Yunque has been a Federal Forest Reserve for over a century – we celebrated our centennial anniversary, our first “Century of Service” to the public in 2003.

We are constantly working to ensure the sustainability of El Yunque's ecosystems and to secure its urban interface -- encroaching development on the Forest's border, and the impending threat of global climate change are among the difficult list of challenges El Yunque faces. We are working closely with government and the public to mutually discover and then implement changes that will ensure your future enjoyment of this unique and irreplaceable tropical jewel.

I hope to have the chance to greet you personally when you visit El Yunque.

Hasta pronto (see you soon)

Pablo Cruz,
Forest Supervisor

What's New?

• On Our Website...

New Feature: Endemic Plant Facts!

In 2009 we begin a new monthly series: Endemic Plant Facts. Each month this series, a companion to our popular monthly Wildlife Facts series, will describe a different tropical tree, shrub or flowering plant species that is "endemic" (not occurring naturally anywhere else) to Puerto Rico's Luquillo Mountains, the location of the El Yunque National Forest. Sadly, some of the plants and trees we will describe are on the US Fish & Wildlife Service's endangered species list, so we will include vital conservation information about each endangered plant species.

Check out our first Endemic (and endangered) plant species: Sintenis' Holly (Ilex sintenisii) beginning this month. (we thought a holly species would be appropriate for the holiday season!)

We hope that you will find this new series as exciting and interesting as our Wildlife Facts series that begins its seventh year of publication this year!

Please CLICK HERE to share any comments you may have about this new series.

¡Nuestra página está disponible en ESPAÑOL!
HAGA CLIC AQUÍ para acceder a la versión traducida.

CAMBIO CLIMÁTICO Y EL YUNQUE decargue aquí la presentación
(English translation coming soon)

CLICK HERE to read the latest edition of El Bosque Pluvial, our El Yunque National Forest Newsletter. Get up to date on the latest happenings in America's only tropical rainforest!

Related Website Links:

Flora Borinqueña Digital Herbarium and Library

The New York Botanical Garden (NYBC) has recently digitized the Flora Borinqueña Digital Herbarium and Library - a virtual copy of the vitally important scientific papers of the botanist team of Nathaniel and Elizabeth Britton. Beginning over a century ago, the Britton team, who co-founded the NYBC, made numerous "expeditions" to Puerto Rico during which they collected over 10.000 species of tropical flowering plants, lichen, fungi and algae, many from the Luquillo mountains. Over the years they recorded 38 new endemic species. El Yunque's famous Mt. Britton was named in their honor.

This NYBG site features the Britton's complete "Botany of Porto (sic) Rico and the Virgin Islands" (1923-1930) as well as many beautiful, cross-referenced watercolor illustrations by Frances Horne from Nathaniel Britton’s unpublished "Flora Borinqueña." Horne later illustrated Little, Wadsworth and Marrero's "Árboles Comunes de Puerto Rico y las Islas Vírgenes" (1968).

Click here to go to directly to the NYBG page.

America's Rain Forest Electronic Field Trip

Teachers and Home Schooling Parents: this link takes you to the America's Rain Forests Education Project - an exciting "electronic field trip," free lesson plans, a downloadable recording of the original broadcast, and lots more useful information about temperate and tropical rain forests in America.

• At the El Portal Rainforest Center…

Music and Art at El Portal!
Click here for detailed information.

Come and see the exciting new Nature Dioramas at our "Understanding the Forest" pavilion, at the center's upper level. Don't miss these amazingly life-like wildlife figures displayed in their typical rain-forest habitats.

• At the Forest’s Eastern National Bookstores…

Stay tuned for details

Upcoming Events

Scouting Trails Program is for EVERYONE!

This program is a gift from the Boy Scouts to ALL kids to celebrate the Centennial of the World Scouting Program. CLICK HERE to learn more. (Please note that the Scouting Trails Website is in Spanish).

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