The Serra Azul State Park ( pt, Parque Estadual da Serra Azul) 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

Mato Grosso Mato Grosso ( – lit. "Thick Bush") is one of the states of Brazil, the third largest by area, located in the Central-West region. The state has 1.66% of the Brazilian population and is responsible for 1.9% of the Brazilian GDP. Neighboring ...

, Brazil. It protects a mountainous area of

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 ...

forest and contains slopes that are used for

paragliding Paragliding is the recreational and competitive adventure sport of flying paragliders: lightweight, free-flying, foot-launched glider aircraft with no rigid primary structure. The pilot sits in a harness or lies supine in a cocoon-like 'po ...

. The park contains the

geodetic Geodesy ( ) is the Earth science of accurately measuring and understanding Earth's figure (geometric shape and size), orientation in space, and gravity. The field also incorporates studies of how these properties change over time and equivale ...

center of Brazil.

Location

The Serra Azul State Park is in the municipality of

Barra do Garças Barra do Garças is a city with a population of 61,135 located in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, around far from the capital city of Cuiabá. It was founded on 13 June 1924, but it became political independent just on 15 September 1948. Nowa ...

in the east of Mato Grosso. It has an area of . The park contains a landmark for the geodetic center of Brazil. The park is in the Guimarães plateau, bounded to the north by the Paranatinga depression, to the east by the Araguaia depression and to the northeast by the Parecis plateau. Altitudes range from at the park entrance to at the highest points. The terrain is rugged, including flatter areas and steep escarpments with slopes of more than 45º. The park is on the bank of the

Araguaia River The Araguaia River ( pt, Rio Araguaia , Karajá: ♂ ''Berohokỹ'' eɾohoˈkə̃ ♀ ''Bèrakuhukỹ'' ɛɾakuhuˈkə̃ is one of the major rivers of Brazil though it is almost equal in volume at its confluence with the Tocantins. It has a total ...

, and is in the Araguaia-Tocantins basin. The mountains give rise to many streams that feed the Araguaia River or the Rio das Mortes.

History

The Serra Azul State Park was created by state law 6.539 of 31 May 1994. It is administered by the Secretary of State for the Environment (Sema). On 10 August 2015 governor

Pedro Taques José Pedro Gonçalves Taques (born March 15, 1968) is a Brazilian teacher and politician. He has previously as governor of Mato Grosso and senator for the same state.paragliding Paragliding is the recreational and competitive adventure sport of flying paragliders: lightweight, free-flying, foot-launched glider aircraft with no rigid primary structure. The pilot sits in a harness or lies supine in a cocoon-like 'po ...

by members of the Free Flying Association in December 2015. Schools and universities were also allowed monitored access to the park subject to advanced authorization. SEMA said in 2015 they planned to gradually open new areas for visitors, who average 2,500 per month, to allow better security and conservation of local biodiversity.

Environment

Soils are mainly litholic, from sandstone formations, but flat areas have yellow latosol. The

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

is Aw, with two well-defined seasons. The dry season is from April to September, and the rainy season from October to March. Fires sometimes break out in the dry season. There were fires in 2002, 2005, 2007, and 2012. The fire in 2007 affected 80% of the park. There are small roads around some areas, remains of old farm roads from before the land was expropriated, which serve as firebreaks. The park is in the

biome. Vegetation includes gallery forests, semi-deciduous forests, typical cerrado and rocky cerrado. About 800 species of vascular plants have been identified, and 180 species of birds, but the flora and fauna had not been subject to thorough inventories as of 2015. The ''

Astyanax xavante In Greek mythology, Astyanax (; grc, Ἀστυάναξ ''Astyánax'', "lord of the city") was the son of Hector, the crown prince of Troy, and his wife, Princess Andromache of Cilician Thebe."Astyanax". ''Oxford Classical Dictionary''. Oxford, 1 ...

'' is a fish that is endemic to the Córrego Avoadeira, the largest stream in the park. The

Bororó people The Bororo are indigenous people of Brazil, living in the state of Mato Grosso. They also extended into Bolivia and the Brazilian state of Goiás. The Western Bororo live around the Jauru and Cabaçal rivers. The Eastern Bororo ( Orarimogodoge) ...

, who used to live in the area, called the park ''Kieguereiral'' ("Place of Birds") due to the great diversity of birds.

Activities

The park is an excellent location for paragliding. Other attractions include Christ's staircase, the gazebo and trails that lead to 15 waterfalls with an average height of . The Pezinhos Cave contains prehistoric paintings of great anthropological value. The cave was deteriorating due to people touching the paintings and writing on the walls. As of 2015 the cave was closed to visitors until a method of sustainable visitation could be arranged.

Notes

Sources

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Serra Azul State Park State parks of Brazil Protected areas established in 1994 1994 establishments in Brazil Protected areas of Mato Grosso