The Furnas do Bom Jesus State Park ( pt, Parque Estadual das Furnas do Bom Jesus) 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. It protects an area of cerrado and

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 ...

with high biodiversity in and around a canyon.

Location

The Furnas do Bom Jesus State Park is in the municipality of Pedregulho, São Paulo, from the state capital of

. The municipality is in the northeast of the state in the Ribeirão Preto mesoregion. It has an area of , and is in the hydrographic basin of the Córrego do Pedregulho. .The terrain consists of medium hills with flat tops and slopes with small canyons. The name ''Furnas do Bom Jesus'' means "Caves of the Good Jesus", after the Bom Jesus canyon which leads through the park. Altitudes range from .

History

The Furnas do Bom Jesus State Park was created by state decree 30.591 of 12 October 1989. Decree 31.644 of 31 May 1990 declared the land as being of social interest for the purpose of expropriation. The park is a fully protected conservation unit with the objectives of preserving its ecosystems, geomorphological sites and natural landscapes, while supporting scientific research and public visits. Various universities use the park for scientific research, including the

University of São Paulo The University of São Paulo ( pt, Universidade de São Paulo, USP) is a public university in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. It is the largest Brazilian public university and the country's most prestigious educational institution, the best ...

Environment

The

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

is Cwb Tropical Altitude, hot and humid in summer, cold and dry in winter. Temperatures vary from in the summer and in the winter, with average annual temperature from . The park protects an area with great biodiversity of native flora and fauna, including some species threatened with extinction. Vegetation includes fragments of cerrado and

seasonal semi-deciduous forest. There are cerradões, cerrado and meadows in the interfluvial areas, continuous gallery forest in the valley bottoms, including seasonal semi-deciduous forest and seasonal alluvial semi-deciduous forest, and seasonal deciduous forest on the slopes and walls of the canyons, particularly in places where there is the least water in the dry season. The natural cerrado vegetation on the top of the chapadas and the gentler slopes was almost entirely replaced by coffee plantations and pasturage, and is now regenerating. The areas that are harder to access have been little changed, preserving remnants of the original forest. There are marshes, flooded meadows, high meadows and remnants of Atlantic forest, but the most common forms are typical cerrado, cerradão and asveredas. There are many species of trees, grasses, bromeliads, orchids and other small plants. The cerrado has been drastically modified by humans. Notable species of flora include ''ipe'' ( Tabebuia species),'' jacaranda'' ('' Jacaranda cuspidifolia''), ''jequitibá'' ('' Cariniana estrellensis''), ''açoita-cavalo'' (

Luehea ''Luehea'' is a genus of trees in the family Malvaceae. Its native range stretches from Mexico to southern tropical America and Cuba. It is native to the countries of; Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Sa ...

species) and ''peroba'' (

Aspidosperma ''Aspidosperma'' is a genus of flowering plant in the family Apocynaceae, first described as a genus in 1824. It is native to South America, Central America, southern Mexico, and the West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North A ...

species). Fauna includes species such as armadillo (

Dasypus ''Dasypus'' is the only extant genus in the family Dasypodidae. Its species are known as long-nosed or naked-tailed armadillos. They are found in South, Central, and North America, as well as on the Caribbean islands of Grenada, Trinidad and Toba ...

species), southern tamandua (Tamandua tetradactyla) and the threatened

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

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).

Visiting

Pequena cachoeira no Parque Estadual Furnas do Bom Jesus em 2012

Visitors are attracted by the natural beauty of the forests and waterfalls. There are viewpoints in the Santa Luzia and Taquari centers. The highlight is the Cascata Grande, the largest waterfall in the park with a free fall of . The administrative headquarters of the park are in the Santa Luzia Center. There are several trails leading through the park:

Notes

Sources

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Furnas do Bom Jesus State Park State parks of Brazil Protected areas established in 1989 1989 establishments in Brazil Protected areas of São Paulo (state)