Mont Itoupé (also Sommet Tabulaire
) is a 826 metres high mountain on the border of the
Camopi
Camopi is a commune of French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France located in South America. Camopi is mainly inhabited by Amerindians of the Wayampi and Teko tribes.
History
In 1738, a Jesuit mission opened on the river ...
and
Maripasoula
Maripasoula, previously named Upper Maroni, is a commune of French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France located in South America. With a land area of , Maripasoula is the largest commune of France.
Geography
The Lawa and Maron ...
communes
An intentional community is a voluntary residential community which is designed to have a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork from the start. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, relig ...
in
French Guiana
French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic coast of South America in the Guianas. ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
. It is the second highest mountain in French Guiana after
Bellevue de l'Inini.
The mountain is located in the
Guiana Amazonian Park
Guiana Amazonian Park (french: Parc amazonien de Guyane) is the largest national park of France, aiming at protecting part of the Amazonian forest located in French Guiana which covers 41% of the region. It is the largest park in France as wel ...
, and is about 80 kilometres south of
Saül.
Overview
Mont Itoupé is a mountain covered in
cloud forests. Often the top of the mountain is literally covered in clouds.
To the west of the mountain are the
Waki Plains, a vast nearly unexplored land. To the south is an
Emerillon trail which links the
Maroni to the
Oyapock River
The Oyapock or Oiapoque (; ; ) is a long river in South America that forms most of the border between the French overseas department of French Guiana and the Brazilian state of Amapá.
Course
The Oyapock runs through the Guianan moist fores ...
. Even though the mountain stands in a very remote area, some trees bear witness to the
Balatá harvesting of the late 19th century.
There is a remarkable difference between the eastern and western slope of the mountain. The eastern slope has an open
canopy
Canopy may refer to:
Plants
* Canopy (biology), aboveground portion of plant community or crop (including forests)
* Canopy (grape), aboveground portion of grapes
Religion and ceremonies
* Baldachin or canopy of state, typically placed over an ...
with dense undergrowth, while the western side the undergrowth is less dense or even absent and contains endemic species in the canopy.
More than 130 plant species have identified including the rare ''
Chamaecostus curcumoides'', and ''
Pitcairnia sastrei''. As of 2014, around twenty plant species new to science and not yet described have been discovered around the mountain.
[{{cite web, url=http://www.guyane.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/IMG/pdf/00430003_Sommet_Tabulaire.pdf , title=Sommet Tabulaire, website=DEAL de Guyane, access-date=20 March 2021, language=fr]
References
Camopi
Maripasoula
Itoupe