The Quilombos do Médio Ribeira Environmental Protection Area ( pt, Área de Proteção Ambiental dos Quilombos do Médio Ribeira) is an environmental protection area 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 Ga ...

, Brazil. It supports sustainable development of communities of

quilombola A ''quilombola'' () is an Afro-Brazilian resident of ''quilombo'' settlements first established by escaped slaves in Brazil. They are the descendants of Afro-Brazilian slaves who escaped from slave plantations that existed in Brazil until abol ...

s, descendants of African slaves.

Location

The Quilombos do Médio Ribeira Environmental Protection Area (APA) is divided between the municipalities of

Barra do Turvo Barra do Turvo is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. The population is 7,632 (2020 est.) in an area of . The elevation is . Conservation The municipality contains part of the Rio Turvo State Park, created in 2008. It contai ...

(2.69%), Eldorado (40.84%) and Iporanga (56.47%) in the state of São Paulo. It has an area of . The APA forms part of the

Serra de Paranapiacaba Mosaic The Paranapiacaba Conservation Units Mosaic ( pt, Mosaico de Unidades de Conservação do Paranapiacaba) is a protected area mosaic in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. It is administered by the state, and protects a large area of Atlantic Forest. I ...

, which has over and contains the largest remaining area 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 t ...

in Brazil. Other conservation units in the mosaic are the Carlos Botelho State Park, Alto Ribeira Tourist State Park,

Nascentes do Paranapanema State Park The Nascentes do Paranapanema State Park ( pt, Parque Estadual Nascentes do Paranapanema is a state park in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. It protects part of the largest remnant of Atlantic Forest in Brazil. Location The Nascentes do Paranap ...

, Caverna do Diabo State Park,

Xitué Ecological Station The Xitué Ecological Station ( pt, Estação Ecológica Xitué) is an ecological station in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. It protects a mountainous area of Atlantic Forest. Location The Xitué Ecological Station (ESEC) is in the Serra de Par ...

Serra do Mar Environmental Protection Area The Serra do Mar Environmental Protection Area ( pt, Área de Proteção Ambiental Serra do Mar) is an environmental protection area in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. It controls land use in an extensive area of Atlantic Forest in the Serra d ...

and Intervales State Park.

History

The

s of the Ribeira Valley were escaped or free slaves who settled in the area, mainly in the 18th century, and intermarried with the local people. They were the first in the state of São Paulo to organize themselves to claim land rights. The first grant of land titles were given to the communities of Maria Rosa, Pilões and São Pedro in 2001. Law 10.850 of 6 July 2001 altered the boundaries of the Jacupiranga State Park to exclude the

communities of Nhunguara, Sapatu and André Lopes, and the Intervales State Park to exclude the quilombola communities of Pilões, Maria Rosa, São Pedro, Ivaporunduva and Pedro Cubas. These communities were included in the

. The Quilombos do Médio Ribeira Environmental Protection Area was created by law 12.810 of 21 February 2008, which dissolved the old Jacupiranga State Park and created 14 new conservation units in the Jacupiranga Mosaic. It included the quilombola communities of Nhunguara, André Lopes, Sapatu, Ivaporanduva, Galvão, São Pedro, Pilões, Maria Rosa, Pedro Cubas, Pedro Cubas de Cima and Praia Grande, which had been part of the Serra do Mar Environmental Protection Area since 2001.

Environment

The Ribeira de Iguape River, which rises in the state of Paraná, runs through the center of the APA. It is part of the large ecological corridor that connects the Serra do Paranapiacaba conservation units. Flora includes ''

Euterpe edulis ''Euterpe edulis'', commonly known as juçara, jussara (an archaic alternative spelling), açaí-do-sul or palmiteiro, is a palm species in the genus ''Euterpe''. It is now predominantly used for hearts of palm. It is closely related to the aça� ...

'', '' Ficus citrifolia'', ''

Orchidaceae Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

'' and ''

Bromeliaceae The Bromeliaceae (the bromeliads) are a family of monocot flowering plants of about 80 genera and 3700 known species, native mainly to the tropical Americas, with several species found in the American subtropics and one in tropical west Africa, ...

''. Fauna include

cougar The cougar (''Puma concolor'') is a large cat native to the Americas. Its range spans from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes in South America and is the most widespread of any large wild terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere. I ...

(''Puma concolor''), black-fronted piping guan (''Pipile jacutinga'') and southern muriqui (''Brachyteles arachnoides'').

Economy

The APA aims for sustainable development of the

quilombo A ''quilombo'' (; from the Kimbundu word , ) is a Brazilian hinterland settlement founded by people of African origin, and others sometimes called Carabali. Most of the inhabitants of quilombos, called quilombolas, were maroons, a term for e ...

communities it contains, whether through subsistence agriculture, cultural tourism or other activities. Most of the residents have only elementary education, since higher levels of education are not available in the region, and many people over 50 are illiterate. The main source of subsistence is from backyard vegetable plots. Some communities have a health clinic, but care is rudimentary.

Notes

Sources

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Quilombos do Medio Ribeira Environmental Protection Area Environmental protection areas of Brazil Protected areas established in 2008 Protected areas of São Paulo (state) 2008 establishments in Brazil