The park was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994 due to the extraordinary diversity of plant and animal species represented.

The topography of the Los Katios National Park is diverse, with low hills, forests and wet plains comprising its total area.

Due to its geographical location in northern Colombia on the southern edge of the Central American land bridge, this region served as a filter for the exchange of animal species between North and South America in the Tertiary and Pleistocene periods.

The Darién region, to which Los Katíos belongs, was historically important for the first settlers who used the land bridge from North to South America some 20,000 years ago.

After the park was established in 1974, over the next seven years the 150 or so local families were relocated to the nearby towns of Unguía, Puente América, Tumaradó and Cacarica.

The park was placed on the List of World Heritage in Danger in 2009 at the request of the Colombian government to handle threats to its protection, notably deforestation, unauthorized settlements, illegal fishing and hunting.