Anhatomirim Environmental Protection Area ( pt, Área de Proteção Ambiental de Anhatomirim) is a protected area to the north of
Florianópolis
Florianópolis () is the capital and second largest city of the state of Santa Catarina, in the South region of Brazil. The city encompasses Santa Catarina Island and surrounding small islands, as well as part of the mainland. It has a populat ...
on the coast of
Santa Catarina, Brazil.
Formation
The coastal marine reserve, with an area of , was created on 20 May 1992.
It is administered by the
Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation.
The name comes from the island of Anhatomirim, on which a fortress was built by the Portuguese in 1735, later used as a political prison in the time of
Floriano Peixoto.
It comprises an area of land opposite the
Fortaleza de Santa Cruz de Anhatomirim and the surrounding water up to from the land.
It lies in the municipality of
Governador Celso Ramos, Santa Catarina.
The area is
IUCN protected area category
IUCN protected area categories, or IUCN protected area management categories, are categories used to classify protected areas in a system developed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
The enlisting of such areas is part ...
V (protected landscape/seascape).
The purpose is to protect biological diversity and ensure the sustainable use of natural resources.
Specific goals include protecting the feeding and reproduction area of the resident population of
Tucuxi
The tucuxi (''Sotalia fluviatilis''), alternatively known in Peru ''bufeo gris'' or ''bufeo negro'', is a species of freshwater dolphin found in the rivers of the Amazon basin. The word ''tucuxi'' is derived from the Tupi language word ''tuchuc ...
(Sotalia fluviatilis) freshwater dolphins, and protecting remnants of the Atlantic Rain Forest and water sources needed for survival of local fishing communities.
Ecology
The terrain is generally flat or undulating, with the highest point at
Most of the forest is secondary
Atlantic Forest
The Atlantic Forest ( pt, Mata Atlântica) is a South American forest that extends along the Atlantic coast of Brazil from Rio Grande do Norte state in the northeast to Rio Grande do Sul state in the south and inland as far as Paraguay and th ...
in different stages of regeneration, but there is some preserved dense forest, mainly on the slopes of the Serra da Armação.
There are also small mangroves and sandbanks.
Migratory species include
southern right whale
The southern right whale (''Eubalaena australis'') is a baleen whale, one of three species classified as right whales belonging to the genus ''Eubalaena''. Southern right whales inhabit oceans south of the Equator, between the latitudes of 20 ...
(Eubalaena australis),
common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus),
La Plata dolphin
The La Plata dolphin, franciscana or toninha (''Pontoporia blainvillei'') is a species of dolphin found in coastal Atlantic waters of southeastern South America. It is a member of the river dolphin group and the only one that lives in the ocean ...
(Pontoporia blainvillei),
swallow-tailed kite (Elanoides forficatus),
South American tern (Sterna hirundinacea) and
rufous-thighed kite
The rufous-thighed kite (''Harpagus diodon'') is a species of bird of prey in subfamily Accipitrinae, the "true" hawks, of family Accipitridae.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, J. F. Pacheco ...
(Harpagus diodon).
Protected species include
loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta),
green sea turtle
The green sea turtle (''Chelonia mydas''), also known as the green turtle, black (sea) turtle or Pacific green turtle, is a species of large sea turtle of the family Cheloniidae. It is the only species in the genus ''Chelonia''. Its range exten ...
(Chelonia mydas), La Plata dolphin and
restinga tyrannulet (Phylloscartes kronei).
The numbers of tourists visiting the waters by boat for dolphin watching has disturbed these animals, and some researchers have suggested limits if not an outright ban on this activity.
Notes
Sources
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{{authority control
Environmental protection areas of Brazil
Protected areas of Santa Catarina (state)