The Açu National Forest ( pt, Floresta Nacional de Açu) is a
national forest in the state of
Rio Grande do Norte
Rio Grande do Norte (, , ) is one of the states of Brazil. It is located in the northeastern region of the country, forming the northeasternmost tip of the South American continent. The name literally translates as "Great Northern River", ref ...
, Brazil.
Location
The Açu National Forest is in the municipality of
Assu
Assū ( pa, ਅੱਸੂ , ) is the seventh month of the Nanakshahi calendar, which governs the Sikh tradition. This month coincides with Ashvin in the Hindu calendar and the Indian national calendar, and September and October in the Gregorian an ...
(or Açu) in the state of Rio Grande do Norte.
It has an area of .
The terrain is flat or slightly undulating.
The only body of water is Lago do Piató, which has a maximum depth of .
It used to be fed by flood water from the
Piranhas River
The Piranhas River ( pt, Rio Piranhas-Açu), also known as the Açu River, is a river of northeastern Brazil. It originates in southeastern Paraíba state, near the border with Ceará, and flows north-northeast through Paraíba and Rio Grande do ...
, but since the construction of a dam on the Piranhas no longer receives water from the river.
History
The Açu Forest Park (Horto Florestal de Açu) was created by law 1.175 on 10 August 1950.
It was made a national forest by ordinance 245 of 18 July 2001.
It is the first national forest in Rio Grande do Norte and the third in the north east region.
It was created due to a popular movement by the Defence Committee of the National Forest.
The Açu National Forest is administered by the
Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation
The Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (Portuguese: ''Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade'', ICMBio) is the Brazilian Ministry of the Environment's administrative arm."Brazilian Federal Law 11.516/2007 (Por ...
(ICMBio).
It is classed as
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 ...
VI (protected area with sustainable use of natural resources) with the objective of sustainable multiple use of forest resources and scientific research, with emphasis on methods for sustainable exploitation of native forests.
An advisory council was appointed on 28 August 2008.
Environment
The forest is mostly covered by typical
Caatinga
Caatinga (, ) is a type of semi-arid tropical vegetation, and an ecoregion characterized by this vegetation in interior northeastern Brazil. The name "Caatinga" is a Tupi word meaning "white forest" or "white vegetation" (''caa'' = forest, v ...
shrub and trees, with many cactuses. There are small populations of
carnauba
Carnauba (; pt, carnaúba ), also called Brazil wax and palm wax, is a wax of the leaves of the carnauba palm ''Copernicia prunifera'' (synonym: ''Copernicia cerifera''), a plant native to and grown only in the northeastern Brazilian states of ...
.
62 species from 46 genera have been identified, mostly from the families
,
Euphorbiaceae
Euphorbiaceae, the spurge family, is a large family of flowering plants. In English, they are also commonly called euphorbias, which is also the name of a genus in the family. Most spurges, such as ''Euphorbia paralias'', are herbs, but some, e ...
,
Cactaceae
A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Greek ...
and
Boraginaceae
Boraginaceae, the borage or forget-me-not family, includes about 2,000 species of shrubs, trees and herbs in 146, to 156 genera with a worldwide distribution.
The APG IV system from 2016 classifies the Boraginaceae as single family of the order ...
.
Typical species are
Croton sonderianus,
Caesalpinia pyramidalis,
Auxemma glazioviana,
Dipteryx odorata
''Dipteryx odorata'' (commonly known as "cumaru", "kumaru", or "Brazilian teak") is a species of flowering tree in the pea family, Fabaceae. The tree is native to Central America and northern South America and is semi-deciduous. Its seeds are kn ...
and
Tabebuia impetiginosa
''Handroanthus impetiginosus'', the pink ipê, pink lapacho or pink trumpet tree, is a tree in the family Bignoniaceae, distributed throughout North, Central and South America, from northern Mexico south to northern Argentina. It is the national ...
.
The forest, with its rich vegetation, is home to various species of birds, reptiles and mammals such as
armadillo
Armadillos (meaning "little armored ones" in Spanish) are New World placental mammals in the order Cingulata. The Chlamyphoridae and Dasypodidae are the only surviving families in the order, which is part of the superorder Xenarthra, along wi ...
s,
cavy
Caviidae, the cavy family, is composed of rodents native to South America and includes the domestic guinea pig
The guinea pig or domestic guinea pig (''Cavia porcellus''), also known as the cavy or domestic cavy (), is a species of rodent ...
,
pampas deer
The Pampas deer (''Ozotoceros bezoarticus'') is a species of deer that live in the grasslands of South America at low elevations.Geist, Valerius. Deer of the world their evolution, behaviour, and ecology'. Mechanicsburg, Pa: Stackpole Books, 1998 ...
and
marmoset
The marmosets (), also known as zaris or sagoin, are 22 New World monkey species of the genera ''Callithrix'', ''Cebuella'', ''Callibella'', and ''Mico''. All four genera are part of the biological family Callitrichidae. The term "marmoset" is ...
.
Notes
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Acu National Forest
1950 establishments in Brazil
National forests of Brazil
Protected areas of Rio Grande do Norte