The Morro do Penedo Natural Monument ( pt, Monumento Natural Municipal Morro do Penedo) is a municipal

natural monument A natural monument is a natural or natural/cultural feature of outstanding or unique value because of its inherent rarity, representative of aesthetic qualities or cultural significance. Under World Commission on Protected Areas guidelines, nat ...

in the state of

Espírito Santo Espírito Santo (, , ; ) is a state in southeastern Brazil. Its capital is Vitória, and its largest city is Serra. With an extensive coastline, the state hosts some of the country's main ports, and its beaches are significant tourist attra ...

, Brazil. It contains a small sugarloaf hill on the shore of the bay to the south of Vitória, the state capital.

Location

The Morro do Penedo Natural Monument is in the municipality of

Vila Velha Vila Velha (; Portuguese for "Old Village") is a coastal city in Espírito Santo, Brazil. It lies across from Vitória, the state capital. Its population was 501,325 (2020) and its area is 210.23 km². Location Vila Velha forms part of th ...

, Espírito Santo. It has an area of . It is a granite rock mass around high on the coast of the Vitória Bay channel at the mouth of the Aribiri River. There are remnants 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 ...

vegetation.

History

The Morro do Penedo Natural Monument was created by municipal decree 091/07 and regulated by law 4.930 of 2010. It became part of the

Central Atlantic Forest Ecological Corridor The Central Atlantic Forest Ecological Corridor ( pt, Corredor Central da Mata Atlântica is an ecological corridor in the states of Espírito Santo and Bahia, Brazil. It promotes improvements to connectivity between fragments of Atlantic Forest ...

, created in 2002. A project to implement a park in the natural monument was detailed in 2012, including a visitor center, gazebo, suspended forest walkways, a pier and a floating dock. An access tower between the Morro da Urca and Morro do Penedo was also planned, a rainwater collection system, and restoration of a stone house as a museum. In July 2015 a steel cable used to climb the hill was removed for safety reasons. City officials said another, safer climbing route would be made.

Notes

Sources

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Morro do Penedo Natural Monument Natural monuments of Brazil Protected areas of Espírito Santo 2010 establishments in Brazil