Campina do Encantado State Park

Campina do Encantado State Park
Parque Estadual da Campina do Encantado
IUCN category II (national park)

Park entrance
Map showing the location of Campina do Encantado State Park
Nearest city Pariquera-Açu, São Paulo
Coordinates 24°38′30″S 47°46′32″W / 24.641541°S 47.775677°W / -24.641541; -47.775677Coordinates: 24°38′30″S 47°46′32″W / 24.641541°S 47.775677°W / -24.641541; -47.775677
Area 3,200 hectares (7,900 acres)
Designation State park
Created 16 August 1994

The Campina do Encantado State Park (Portuguese: Parque Estadual da Campina do Encantado) is a state park in the state of São Paulo, Brazil.

Location

The Campina do Encantado State Park is in the municipality of Pariquera-Açu, São Paulo. It has an area of 3,200 hectares (7,900 acres).[1] The park is in the lower Ribeira de Iguape River valley, between the Pariquera-Açu and Pariquera-Mirim rivers.[2] There are no residents, although there is considerable pressure from the surrounding communities.[3] The main focus of the park is on environmental education. The park has a visitor center with an audiovisual room, lodgings for researchers and technicians, a kiosk with a barbecue, a tank of native fish, a nursery of native plants and a computerized weather station.[1]

History

Privately owned land within the present park boundaries was occupied decades ago, but since then the vegetation has completely regenerated.[3] The Pariquera Abaixo State Park was created by state law 8.873 of 16 August 1994, with an area of 2,359.50 hectares (5,830.5 acres). After further studies, the area was revised to 3,200 hectares (7,900 acres). At the request of the consultative council, the park was renamed the Campina do Encantado State Park on 26 May 1999.[3] The management plan was prepared by the São Paulo State Foundation for Forest Conservation and Production (Fundação para a Conservação e a Produção Florestal do Estado de São Paulo). It was approved on 21 October 2009.[2] The park is part of the Lagamar mosaic of conservation units.[4]

Archaeology

There are several archaeological sites, middens containing fragments of shells, bones and other objects. Two of them are 10 metres (33 ft) in diameter and 5 metres (16 ft) high.[1] The shell mounds are between 5,870 and 4,974 years old. At present they are 25 to 19 kilometres (16 to 12 mi) from the sea shore, and 7 to 8 metres (23 to 26 ft) above sea level. The sea was higher when the mounds were formed, and there was an extensive network of lagoons in the area that reached its maximum extent about 5,100 year ago.[2]

Environment

The environment has been preserved because 50% is subject to periodic flooding and 25% is permanently flooded, cutting off access to the 25% that is higher arable land.[3] The park holds a peat bog over 6 metres (20 ft) thick.[2] The name "Campina do Encantado" (Enchanted Field) is due to the peat generating methane gas which can burn with a flame shooting from the ground up to 80 centimetres (31 in) high.[3] Vegetation is dominated by restinga forest, swamp forest and várzea forest.[1] The flora is rich in in Bromeliaceaes and Araceaes.[1] The park has diverse fauna, including the endangered red-tailed amazon (Amazona brasiliensis).[3]

Notes

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    Sources

    This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/18/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.