The Campos do Jordão State Park ( pt, Parque Estadual de Campos do Jordão) is a

state park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural ...

in the state of

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

, Brazil.

Location

The Campos do Jordão State Park, known locally as the ''Horto Florestal'', covers an area of . It occupies one third of the municipality of

Campos do Jordão Campos do Jordão () is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in southeastern Brazil. It is part of the Metropolitan Region of Vale do Paraíba e Litoral Norte. The population is 52,405 (2020 est.) in an area of . The city is situated above s ...

, São Paulo, on the border with

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literally ...

. The park contains an important remnant of

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 ...

, including

Araucária Araucária is a municipality in the Brazilian state of Paraná. The population in 2020 was 146,214 inhabitants. History The first movement of the white man in today Araucaria Brazil, dating back to the year 1668,period in which Domingos Rodrig ...

and

Podocarpus ''Podocarpus'' () is a genus of conifers, the most numerous and widely distributed of the podocarp family, the Podocarpaceae. The name comes from Greek πούς (poús, “foot”) + καρπός (karpós, “fruit”). ''Podocarpus'' species ...

forest, alpine meadows and cloud forest. It contains the largest contiguous tract of pines in southeast Brazil in its deep valleys and hills with altitudes that vary from . There is diverse fauna with more than 186 known species of birds and endangered animals such as

cougar The cougar (''Puma concolor'') is a large Felidae, cat native to the Americas. Its Species distribution, range spans from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes in South America and is the most widespread of any large wild terrestrial mamm ...

(''Puma concolor''),

ocelot The ocelot (''Leopardus pardalis'') is a medium-sized spotted wild cat that reaches at the shoulders and weighs between on average. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. Two subspecies are recognized. It is native to the southwes ...

(''Leopardus pardalis'') and the

vinaceous-breasted amazon The vinaceous-breasted amazon (''Amazona vinacea'') is a species of parrot in the family Psittacidae. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, subtropical or tropical ...

(''Amazona vinacea''). The park has a visitor center, barbecues, fitness area, nurseries, showers, chapel, restaurant, craft shop and trails for walking and cycling. A wooden tower gives a panoramic view. The Sapucaí River and Four Bridges trails follow the Sapucaí River. Other more or less challenging trails lead to the Gargalhada and Celestina waterfalls.

History

The Campos do Jordão State Park was created on 27 March 1941. When the state park was created a policy of encouraging reforestation with exotic species was followed, with conifers introduced in large areas. were degraded by planting

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accep ...

s, mostly ''

pinus elliottii ''Pinus elliottii'', commonly known as slash pine,Family, P. P. (1990). Pinus elliottii Engelm. slash pine. ''Silvics of North America: Conifers'', (654), 338. is a conifer tree native to the Southeastern United States. Slash pine is named after ...

'' and ''

pinus taeda ''Pinus taeda'', commonly known as loblolly pine, is one of several pines native to the Southeastern United States, from East Texas to Florida, and north to southern New Jersey. The wood industry classifies the species as a southern yellow pine. ...

''. These should be removed through sustainable forest management to allow the natural local vegetation to regenerate. Management of the park is integrated with the Mananciais de Campos do Jordão State Park, created in 1993 to protect the water supply of the municipal seat. The park is part of the Mantiqueira Environmental Protection Area. It is also part of the

Mantiqueira Mosaic The Mantiqueira Mosaic ( pt, Mosaico Mantiqueira) is a protected area mosaic that contains conservation units in the states of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Minas Gerais, Brazil. The conservation units are of different types and are managed at th ...

, created in 2006.

Notes

Sources

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Campos do Jordao State Park State parks of Brazil 1941 establishments in Brazil Protected areas of São Paulo (state)