Location: just north of Boca Tapada, near the Nicaraguan border, canton: San Carlos, province: Alajuela and canton: Sarapiquí, province: Heredia, Costa Rica.
Pital GPS Coordinates: 10.451586, -84.273422 (10°27’05.71″N, 84°16’24.32″W)
Size: 6.307 ha (14,800 acres)
Altitude: about 200m above sea level
Arenal Huetar Norte Conservation Area (ACA-HN) Telephone: +506 2460-0055
INFOTUR Tourist Information: 1192
La Cureña Forest Reserve Costa Rica: created on April 7th, 1994, in order to protect the largest remnant of moist forest on the right bank of the San Juan River, near the border of Nicaragua on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. Now, this reserve is part of the Maquenque National Wildlife Refuge, in order to be converted into a biological reserve with the 
main aim of protecting the endangered Great Green Macaw (Ara ambigua).
La Cureña Forest Reserve is part of the Arenal Huetar Norte Conservation Area, in the northern part of Costa Rica, about 80 miles (130 km) north of San José, to the east of Boca Tapada. The best way to get to know the reserve is to take a boat on the San Juan River and go along one of the countless rivers and streams that crisscross the area and discharge into this river.
The reserve has the Cureña and Cureñita Rivers, which before disembogue into the San Juan River, form extensive lagoons and marshes crops. In fact, the Cureña River forms the Maquenque Lagoon. One of the main problems of these rivers is the same sedimentation as in ponds and marshes.
In the reserve outcrop lahars, mainly composed of heterogeneous volcanic materials, with a matrix comprising clay, sand and gravel. These deposits are characterized by an extended flat topography and rolling hills, known in the region as “lomo de cerdo” (Pork loin). These hills are surrounded by lower grounds, thus generally run rainwater, streams, or even “yolillales” and small marshes, surrounded by forest.
This reserve has a tropical rainforest, with an average temperature of about 26°C (78°F), ranging between 21°C (69°F) and 30°C (86°F). The rainfall pattern that characterizes the region presents a short dry season which occurs between the months of March and April, with the wettest months being between June and November, when rainfall exceeds 300 mm per month, with an average annual precipitation between 2,800 to 3,600 mm.
This is why the vegetation here consists of tall forest trees such as enormous Silk Cotton or Ceiba (Ceiba pentandra), Wild Almond tree (Dipteryx panamensis), “Guácimo colorado” (Luehea seemannii) and “Guayabo de charco” (Terminalia bucidioides), as well as a large number of endemic trees such as the “Tostao” (Sclerolobium costaricense), the “Naranjito” (Capparis pittieri) and botarrama (Vochysia allenii). Moreover, in the area there are many tree species threatened and endangered such as the “Repollito” (Eschweilera calyculata), the “Cuero de sapo” (Licania kallunkii), the Chiricano (Vantanea barbourii), the Coquito (Astrocaryum alatum), the Zapotillo (Pouteria uniloculares), the Cola de Pavo (Hymenolobium mesoamericanum), the Areno (Qualea paraensis), the Cipresillo (Podocarpus guatemalensis) and the Cativo (Prioria copaifera).
In secondary early forests of the Cureña Forest Reserve can be found the Bastard cedar or Light virola (Virola koschnyi), the Botarrama (Vochysia ferruginea), the Burío (Heliocarpus appendiculatus), the Oil Tree (Pentaclethra macroloba), the Guarumo or Trumpet tree (Cecropia peltata), the Turkey Berry or Tabacon (Solanum torvum), the Achiotillo (Vismia baccifera), the Manga Larga (Laetia procera) and the Jacaranda. In the lagoons and marshes are commonly found species 
of the family Amaryllidaceae, Araceae, Cyperaceae, Melastomataceae, Onagraceae and Papilionaceae, while the flooded forests mainly consist of Caobilla (Carapa nicaraguensis), Sangrillo (Paramachaerium gruberi), Malabar chestnut (Pachira aquatica) and Sotacaballo (Zygia longifolia).
On the other hand, La Cureña Forest Reserve also has a wide variety of mammals such as white-faced or capuchin monkeys, howler monkeys, spider monkeys, peccaries, tapirs, agoutis, kinkajous, spotted pacas, pumas, ocelots, jaguars and jaguarundi. Also, there have been reported some 20 species of amphibians and about 23 species of reptiles.
Furthermore, many species of birds indicate that the area of La Cureña Forest Reserve is a site of great importance for more than 340 species of birds conservation, such as endangered species like the Green Macaw (Ara ambigua) and the Scarlet Macaw (Ara macao) and rare species like the Great Curassow (Crax rubra) and Guan (Penelope purpurascens).
There are no public facilities at La Cureña Forest Reserve. Other nearby Costa Rica parks includes Maquenque National Wildlife Refuge, El Jardin Forest Reserve and Corredor Fronterizo Costa Rica – Nicaragua National Wildlife Refuge.
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