The Pampa del Tamarugal National Reserve is the name for 3 protected areas next to the Pan American Highway on the Pampa del Tamarugal in Region I de Tarapacá near Iquique. The Reserve was created to protect the Tamarugo tree (Prosopis tamarugo) which is endemic to the region. Many of the trees were cut down for firewood during the nitrate mining boom of the 19th and early 20th centuries; reforestation programmes have since help to increase their numbers.