1983: Five contiguous Costa Rican protected areas inscribed on the World Heritage List under Natural Criteria vii, viii, ix and x. 1988: Rio Macho Reserve added; 1993: Tapanti National Park added;
1990: Panamanian La Amistad National Park inscribed on the World Heritage List as an extension, under Natural Criteria vii, viii, ix and x.

1982: La Amistad National Park (Costa Rica) with ve protected areas plus four Indian reserves designated a Biosphere Reserve under the UNESCO Man & Biosphere Programme (584,592 ha);
2000: La Amistad National Park (Panama) designated a Biosphere Reserve under the UNESCO Man & Biosphere Programme (655,558 ha).
2003: The Turberas de Talamanca designated a Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention (192,520 ha).

La Amistad (Panama) National Park: II National Park
La Amistad (Costa Rica) National Park: II National Park
Chirripó National Park: II National Park Barbilla National Park: II National Park
Hitoy Cerere Biological Reserve: Ia Strict Nature Reserve
Tapanti National Park: IV Habitat/Species Management Area
Rio Macho Forest Reserve: VI Managed Resource Protected Area Las Tablas Protective Zone: VI Managed Resource Protected Area

Central American (8.16.04)

This complex of parks and reserves lies across the Panamanian/Costa Rican border along the length of the foothills and mountain range of the Cordillera de Talamanca which runs down the centre of the isthmus. It is located between 8° 44' N to 10° 02' N and 82° 43' W to 83°44' W.

The principal sources for the above information were the nominations for World Heritage status.
Patino, J. (1989). Solicitud al Comité de la UNESCO para la Declaración del Parque Internacional La Amistad y el Parque Nacional Volcan Barú como Sitio de Patrimonio Mundial Natural. Instituto Nacional de Recursos Naturales Renovbles, Panamá.
Adapted from the article: TALAMANCA RANGE-LA AMISTAD RESERVES / LA AMISTAD NATIONAL PARK of COSTA RICA & PANAMA by United Nations Enviornment Programme, World Conservation Monitoring Centre
Alvarado, R. (1987). Plan Para el Desarrollo Inicial del Parque Internacional La Amistad.
---------------- (1988). Antecedentes Para la Creación del Parque Internacional La Amistad, Panamá.
Anon. (1988). ANCON and the conservation of Panama's natural heritage. ANCON Newsletter 1:1.
-------- (1989). Parque Internacional La Amistad. ANCON Newsletter 2(1): 7
Anon. (1990). Strategy for the Institutional Development of the La Amistad Biosphere Reserve. Ministry of National Planning and Economic Policy and of Natural Resources, Energy and Mines / Organisation of American States / Conservation International. 17 pp.
Boza, M. (1986). Parques Nacionales Costa Rica. Fundacion de Parques Nacionales, Costa Rica.
Castro, J, Ramirez, M.,Saunier, R. & Meganck, R. (1995.). The La Amistad Biosphere Reserve. In Saunier, R. & Meganck, R. (eds) (1995). Conservation of Biodiversity in the New Regional Planning, Ch.10. Organisation of American States.
CATIE (El Centro Agronomico Tropical de Investigacion Ensenanza) (1979). Términos de Referencia para la Elaboracion del Plan de Manejo del Parque Internacional de La Amistad Costa Rica-Panamá. Turrialba, Costa Rica.
Centro Cientico Tropical (1981). Recomendaciones de Limites para el Parque de la Amistad. San José, Costa Rica.
Gonzalez, F. (1996) Talamanca-La Amistad. The Unesco Courier April 1, p40.
IUCN (1990).World Heritage Nomination, Technical Evaluation 552. La Amistad and Volcan Baru National Parks. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland.
------- (1997) State of Conservation of Natural World Heritage Properties. Report prepared for the World Heritage Bureau, 21st session. Paris.
Kappelle, M. & Juarez, M. (1994). The Los Santos Forest Reserve: A buer zone vital for the Costa Rican La Amistad Biosphere Reserve. Environmental Conservation 21(2): 166-169.
Kappelle, M., Van Velzen, H. & Wijtzes, W. (1994). Plant communities of montane secondary vegetation in the Cordillera de Talamanca, Costa Rica. Phytocoenolgia 22(4): 449-484.
Kappelle, M. (1996). Los Bosques de Roble (Quercus) de la Cordillera de Talamanca, Costa Rica, University of Amsterdam / Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad, Costa Rica,
Mendez, L. (1988). Development of Amistad National Park. In WWF List of Approved Projects. Vol.3.The Americas and Caribbean. WWF-International, Gland, Switzerland. Pp. 53-54.
Moore, A. (1985). Una Propuesta: Plan Para la Conservación y el Desarrollo de la Provincia de Bocas del Toro. WWF/IUCN No. 3629. Panamá.
Morales, R., Barborak, J. & MacFarland, C. (1984). Planning and managing a multi-component, multi-category international biosphere reserve: the case of the La Amistad/Talamanca Range/Bocas de Toro Wildlands of Costa Rica and Panama. Paper for the First International Biosphere Reserve Congress, Minsk, Byelorussia, 1983. In Conservation, Science and Society Vol 1.UNESCO, Paris.
Navarro, J. & Fletcher, R. (1988). Preserving Panama's Parks. TNC News 38 (1): 20-24
Ocampo, R. (1981). La Poblacion Indigena en Costa Rica y el Medio Ambiente. (Unpublished).
Powell, G., Palminteri, S. & Schipper, J. (2001). Talamancan Montane Forests. WWF.
Stiles, F. (1972). Ecological Observations of Cerro Chirripó and Vicinity, Costa Rica. Organization for Tropical Studies, San José, Costa Rica.
Stiles, F. & Skutch, A. (1989). A Giude to the Birds of Costa Rica. New York, Cornell University Press.
Torres, H., de Mendoza, L. & Masterson, D. (1987). La Amistad Biosphere Reserve: Towards Sustainable Development. CATIE, Turriable, Costa Rica. 10 pp.
Weber, H. (1959). Los Paramos de Costa Rica y su Concatenacion Fito Geograca con los Andes Suramericanos. Instituto Geograco Nacional. 67 pp.
Weston, A. (1981). Paramos, Cienegas and Subparamo Forest in the Eastern Part of the Cordillera de Talamanca. Tropical Science Center.14 pp. IUCN/WWF Project 3076.
WWF & IUCN (1997) Centres of Plant Diversity. A Guide and Strategy for their Conservation. Vol.3.The Americas. IUCN publications, Cambridge, UK.