The Grão Mogol State Park ( pt, Parque Estadual de Grão Mogol) 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

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 ...

, Brazil. It protects an area of high, mountainous terrain with

cerrado The ''Cerrado'' (, ) is a vast ecoregion of tropical savanna in eastern Brazil, particularly in the states of Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Tocantins, Minas Gerais, and the Federal District. The core areas of the Cerrado biome are t ...

vegetation, important as a source of water in a region with a dry climate.

Location

The Grão Mogol State Park is in the municipality of

Grão Mogol Grão Mogol is a Brazilian municipality located in the north of the state of Minas Gerais. In 2020 the population was 15,890 in a total area of 3,890 km². The elevation is 829 meters. It became a municipality in 1840. Location and Distan ...

, Minas Gerais. It has an area of . The park is mostly within the

Serra Geral The Serra Geral (General Mountains) is a mountain range in southern Brazil, constituting the southern portion of the Serra do Mar system which runs along Brazil's southeastern coast. The Serra Geral runs parallel to the Atlantic coast in Santa ...

, in the region known as the Serra da Bocaína. It contains the valley of the Bosque River and other smaller streams within the

Jequitinhonha River The Jequitinhonha River () flows mainly through the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. Its source lies near Diamantina in the Espinhaço Mountains at an elevation of , after which it flows northward and then east-northeastward across the uplands. A ...

basin. The rivers are perennial, although the climate is very dry. The terrain is mostly mountainous, with large plateaus such as the Chapada do Bosque, the Chapada do Bosquinho and the Chapada do Cardoso.

History

The Grão Mogol State Park was created by decree 39.906 of 22 September 1998. Its area was redefined by decree 45.243 of 2009. 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 ...

II (national park). The purpose is to protect regional fauna, flora and sources of rivers and streams in the region, to support research and scientific studies, and to provide alternatives for rational use of natural resources, such as ecological tourism. As of 2015 it was open only for scheduled educational and research visits, but was expected to soon open to the general public.

Environment

Trees are mostly small and low, typical of high altitude fields. Forms of

dominate the plateaus, particularly low cerrado with trees such as ''

Caryocar brasiliense ''Caryocar brasiliense'', known as pequi (, ) or "souari nut", like its congeners, is an edible fruit popular in some areas of Brazil, especially in Centerwestern Brazil. Taxonomy The pequi tree grows up to 10 m (30 ft) tall. It i ...

'', ''

Curatella americana ''Curatella americana'', commonly known as the wild cashew tree, sambaı́ba, and the sandpaper tree, is a species of tree in the family Dilleniaceae. It is the sole accepted species in genus ''Curatella''. Description ''Curatella americana'' is ...

'' and ''

Qualea parviflora ''Qualea parviflora'', known as ''pau-terra'' in Portuguese, is a deciduous tree indigenous to Bolivia, Brazil, and Paraguay. The tree favors dry climates like the tropical savanna of the cerrado. Description ''Qualea parviflora'' grows up to t ...

'', and shrubby

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 ...

with

Bromeliaceae The Bromeliaceae (the bromeliads) are a family of monocot Monocotyledons (), commonly referred to as monocots, (Lilianae ''sensu'' Chase & Reveal) are grass and grass-like flowering plants (angiosperms), the seeds of which typically contain o ...

and

cactus 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 ...

. The valleys contain distinctive vegetation such as ''

Vellozia squamata ''Vellozia'' is a plant genus in the family Velloziaceae, established in 1788. The genus is endemic to South America except for one species ''(V. tubiflora),'' whose range extends into Panama. Most of the species are native to Brazil, with a de ...

'' and isolated patches of ''

Mauritia flexuosa ''Mauritia flexuosa'', known as the moriche palm, ''ité'' palm, ''ita'', ''buriti'', ''muriti'', ''miriti'' (Brazil), ''canangucho'' (Colombia), ''acho'' (Ecuador), or ''aguaje'' (Peru), is a Arecaceae, palm tree. It grows in and near swamps and ...

''. Fauna includes endangered species such as the

maned wolf The maned wolf (''Chrysocyon brachyurus'') is a large canine of South America. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, and Paraguay, and is almost extinct in Uruguay. Its markings resemble those of foxes, but it is neither a fox nor a w ...

(''Chrysocyon brachyurus''),

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''),

giant anteater The giant anteater (''Myrmecophaga tridactyla'') is an insectivorous mammal native to Central and South America. It is one of four living species of anteaters, of which it is the largest member. The only extant member of the genus ''Myrmecopha ...

(''Myrmecophaga tridactyla''),

southern tamandua The southern tamandua (''Tamandua tetradactyla''), also called the collared anteater or lesser anteater, is a species of anteater from South America and the island of Trinidad in the Caribbean. It is a solitary animal found in many habitats, from ...

(''Tamandua tetradactyla''),

giant armadillo The giant armadillo (''Priodontes maximus''), colloquially ''tatu-canastra'', ''tatou'', ''ocarro'' or ''tatú carreta'', is the largest living species of armadillo (although their extinct relatives, the Glyptodontidae, glyptodonts, were much l ...

(''Priodontes maximus''), ''macaco sauá'' (a

titi The titis, or titi monkeys, are New World monkeys of the subfamily Callicebinae, which contains three extant genera: ''Cheracebus'', ''Callicebus'', and ''Plecturocebus.'' This subfamily also contains the extinct genera ''Miocallicebus, Homuncul ...

) and

lontra ''Lontra'' is a genus of otters from the Americas. Species These species were previously included in the genus ''Lutra'', together with the Eurasian otter The Eurasian otter (''Lutra lutra''), also known as the European otter, Eurasian river ...

Attractions

The park contains a trail built by slaves in colonial times with stone paving. It links the Fazenda do Cafezal, owned by the Baron of Grão Mogol, to the town of Grão Mogol. Several sections are well preserved. Another attraction is the ''Curral de Pedras'' (Stone Corral).

Notes

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Grao Mogol State Park State parks of Brazil Protected areas established in 1998 1998 establishments in Brazil Protected areas of Minas Gerais