Lençóis Maranhenses National Park (''Parque Nacional dos Lençóis Maranhenses'') is a

national park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

Maranhão Maranhão () is a States of Brazil, state in Brazil. Located in the country's Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region, it has a population of about 7 million and an area of and it is divided into 217 municipalities. Clockwise from north, it ...

state in northeastern

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, just east of the Baía de São José. Protected on June 2, 1981, the park includes of coastline, and an interior composed of rolling sand dunes. During the rainy season, the valleys among the dunes fill with freshwater lagoons, prevented from draining by the impermeable rock beneath. The park is home to a range of species, including four listed as endangered, and has become a popular destination for ecotourists. In July 2024 the site was declared a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

for its exceptional beauty and the fact that it is a unique natural aspect in the world.

Physical geography

The park is located on the northeastern coast of Brazil in the state of Maranhão along the eastern coast, bordered by of beaches along the Atlantic Ocean. Inland, it is bordered by the Parnaíba River, the São José Basin, and the rivers of Itapecuru, Munim, and Periá. The park encompasses an area of , composed mainly of expansive coastal dune fields (composed of barchanoid dunes), which formed during the late Quaternary period. While much of the park has the appearance of a desert, the area receives about of rain per year, while deserts, by definition, receive less than annually. About 70% of this rainfall occurs between the months of January and May. The sand is carried to the park from the interior of the continent by the Parnaíba and Preguiças rivers, where it is then driven back inland up to by winds, creating a series of sand dunes rising as much as tall. During the rainy season, between the months of January and June, the rainstorms fill the spaces among the dunes with fresh water lagoons of up to in length and in depth, and together comprising as much as 41% of the area of the park. The water in the lagoons is prevented from draining by a layer of impermeable rock located beneath the sandy surface. The lagoons typically have a temperature between and , pH of between 4.9 and 6.2, and low levels of dissolved nutrients. When the dry season returns, the pools quickly evaporate, losing as much as of depth per month. In the interior of the park are located two oases or restingas, Queimada do Britos, covering an area of , and Baixa Grande, covering an area of . The area of the park has an average annual temperature of between and and an annual temperature variation of about 1.1 °C (2 °F).

Ecology

The lagoons in the park are often interconnected with one another, as well as with the rivers that run through the area. They are home to a number of fish and insect species, including the wolf fish, which burrows down into wet layers of mud and remains dormant during the dry season. Besides the dunes that form the centerpiece of the park, the ecosystem also includes area of restinga and

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows mainly in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. Mangroves grow in an equatorial climate, typically along coastlines and tidal rivers. They have particular adaptations to take in extra oxygen a ...

ecosystems. The park is home to four species listed on the Brazilian List of Endangered Species, the scarlet ibis (''Eudocimus ruber''), the neotropical otter (''Lontra longicaudis''), the oncilla (''Leopardus tigrinus'') and the

West Indian manatee The West Indian manatee (''Trichechus manatus''), also known as the North American manatee, is a large, aquatic mammal native to warm coastal areas of the Caribbean, from the Eastern United States to northern Brazil. Living alone or in herds, it ...

(''Trichechus manatus''). The park also includes 133 species of plants, 112 species of birds, and at least 42 species of reptiles.

Tourism

Lençóis Maranhenses National Park receives as many as 60,000 visitors a year. Common activities within the park include surfing, canoeing and horse riding.

In popular culture

The park was featured in the Brazilian film '' The House of Sand''. " Kadhal Anukkal", a song from the Indian

Tamil language Tamil (, , , also written as ''Tamizhil'' according to linguistic pronunciation) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. It is one of the longest-surviving classical languages in the world,. "Tamil is one of ...

film '' Enthiran'', was also shot there. The films '' Avengers: Infinity War'' (2018) and '' Avengers: Endgame'' (2019) used the park's landscape as the planet of Vormir. A concert by the music group RY X was filmed in the park in 2022.

Notes

References

External links

Official webcontents of the park on the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation's website

Former Lençóis Maranhenses National Park's Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lencois Maranhenses National Park National parks of Brazil Protected areas of Maranhão Protected areas established in 1981 World Heritage Sites in Brazil