Illescas Reserved Zone, National reserve in Sechura Province, Peru.

Illescas Reserved Zone is a protected area located on the Illescas peninsula along Sechura Bay, covering land with rocky coastlines and sand dunes. The territory is managed by Peru's environmental authority SERNANP and serves to protect the different habitats found across this coastal region.

The Illescas peninsula was declared a Reserved Zone by Ministerial Resolution No. 251-2010-MINAM on 16 October 2010, a preliminary step before national reserve status. On 24 December 2021, Supreme Decree No. 038-2021-MINAM reclassified it as a National Reserve. The protected area covers 36,550.70 hectares of coastal desert on the peninsula's western side, reaching elevations up to 440 m.

The reserve's name comes from the Illescas peninsula, which shelters the Bahía de Sechura. Its coastal waters hold Peruvian anchoveta, Pacific sardine, Pacific bonito, jack mackerel and flathead grey mullet, the catch that sustains Sechura's fishing economy. On land, the Sechura fox and Sechura leaf-eared mouse live among capers and saltbush.

Visitors should prepare for rough coastal conditions and exposed terrain, as the area is windswept and undeveloped. Access typically requires coordination with the managing authorities to arrange proper entry to the site.

The reserve's plant list includes four endemics found only in this part of coastal Peru: Alternanthera peruviana, Palaua camanensis, Palaua trisepala and Nolana cerrateana. Look for them on the stabilised sand and low ground between the rocks and the sea.