The Serra das Lontras National Park ( pt, Parque Nacional da Serra das Lontras is a

national park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

in the state of

Bahia Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (sta ...

, Brazil. It protects a rugged area of Atlantic Rainforest with a wide range of bird species, including several that are threatened with extinction.

Location

The Serra das Lontras National Park is in the municipalities of Arataca (63%) and

Una, Bahia Una is a city in Bahia, Brazil. Its population in 2020 was 18,544 inhabitants. It is located about south from Ilheus. The municipality was founded on August 2, 1890. The GDP per capita is R$ 2,649 (IBGE / 2005). Una-Comandatuba Airport serves ...

(37%) to the south of

Itabuna Itabuna is a municipality in Bahia, Brazil. It is the 6th largest city in Bahia by population after Salvador, Feira de Santana, Camaçari, Vitória da Conquista, and Juazeiro. It had an estimated 214,123 residents in 2021. Itabuna covers a total ...

. BR-251 runs along the western boundary. It has an area of . The park covers a

Precambrian The Precambrian (or Pre-Cambrian, sometimes abbreviated pꞒ, or Cryptozoic) is the earliest part of Earth's history, set before the current Phanerozoic Eon. The Precambrian is so named because it preceded the Cambrian, the first period of the ...

coastal range of high ridges that form a continuous mass over high with peaks over . The range forms the watershed between the Una River and the Javi, Pratinha and Santo Antônio streams. It protects the headwaters of at least eight of the Una's tributaries. Water is supplied to various communities in the São José da Vitória municipality.

Administration

The park was created by federal decree on 11 June 2010 and is administered by the

Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation The Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (Portuguese: ''Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade'', ICMBio) is the Brazilian Ministry of the Environment's administrative arm."Brazilian Federal Law 11.516/2007 (Por ...

. 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. The park is classed as

IUCN protected area category IUCN protected area categories, or IUCN protected area management categories, are categories used to classify protected areas in a system developed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The enlisting of such areas is part ...

II (national park). The objective is to preserve the biological wealth and to support scientific research, environmental education and interpretation, outdoors recreation and ecotourism.

Environment

Average annual rainfall is and average temperature is . The park is in the

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 ...

biome. The forest has been selectively logged, but is generally in good condition. Vegetation ranges from lowlands rainforest with a high canopy reaching in the lower parts to montane forests higher up. The forest becomes stunted above . The higher forest is rich in

epiphyte An epiphyte is an organism that grows on the surface of a plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphytes grow are called phoroph ...

s and has great diversity of

orchid 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 ...

s. Protected flora include '' Baptistonia truncata'', '' Begonia itaguassuensis'', ''

Brachionidium restrepioides ''Brachionidium'' (or cup orchid) is a genus of about 72 species of orchids, found throughout much of Tropics, tropical Americas, America (Central America, the West Indies, and South America as far south as Brazil and Bolivia).Luteyn, J. L. 1999 ...

'', '' Canistrum camacaense'', '' Canistrum montanum'', '' Davilla macrocarpa'', ''

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 aç ...

'', '' Heteropterys bullata'', '' Hiraea bullata'', ''

Hirtella santosii ''Hirtella'' is a genus of 110 species of woody trees in family Chrysobalanaceae. It was first described as a genus by Linnaeus in 1753. ''Hirtella'' naturally occurs in tropical forests throughout Latin America, the West Indies, southeast Afri ...

'', '' Houlletia brocklehurstiana'', '' Huberia carvalhoi'', '' Inga grazielae'', ''

Karawata gustavoi ''Karawata gustavoi'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Bromeliaceae, endemic to northeastern Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South Ame ...

'', '' Licania belemii'', '' Octomeria geraensis'', '' Paralychnophora bicolor'', '' Portea nana'', '' Solanum bahianum'', '' Solanum restingae'' and '' Trichopilia santoslimae''. Protected mammals include

maned sloth The maned sloth (''Bradypus torquatus'') is a three-toed sloth that is native to South America. It is one of four species of three-toed sloths belonging to the suborder Xenarthra and are placental mammals. They are endemic to the Atlantic coast ...

(''Bradypus torquatus''),

coastal black-handed titi The coastal black-handed titi monkey (''Callicebus melanochir'') is a species of titi, a type of New World monkey, endemic to Brazil. Description Coastal black-handed titis are relatively small primates with fluffy fur, a long, bushy tail and ...

(''Callicebus melanochir''),

golden-bellied capuchin The golden-bellied capuchin (''Sapajus xanthosternos''), also known as the yellow-breasted or buff-headed capuchin, is a species of New World or neotropical monkey. It lives mainly in trees and are omnivorous, eating a wide variety of both plant ...

(''Sapajus xanthosternos''),

golden-headed lion tamarin The golden-headed lion tamarin (''Leontopithecus chrysomelas''), also the golden-headed tamarin, is a lion tamarin endemic to Brazil. It is found only in the lowland and premontane tropical forest fragments in the state of Bahia, and therefore is ...

(''Leontopithecus chrysomelas''),

bristle-spined rat The bristle-spined rat (''Chaetomys subspinosus'') is an arboreal rodent from the Atlantic forest in eastern Brazil. Also known as the bristle-spined porcupine or thin-spined porcupine, it is the only member of the genus ''Chaetomys'' and the ...

(''Chaetomys subspinosus'') and

cougar The cougar (''Puma concolor'') is a large Felidae, cat native to the Americas. Its Species distribution, range spans from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes in South America and is the most widespread of any large wild terrestrial mamm ...

(''Puma concolor''). 330 species of bird have recorded, 16 of them globally threatened with extinction and 13 near threatened. Protected birds in the park include pink-legged graveteiro (''Acrobatornis fonsecai''),

white-necked hawk The white-necked hawk (''Buteogallus lacernulatus'') is a Vulnerable species of bird of prey in subfamily Accipitrinae, the "true" hawks, of family Accipitridae. It is endemic to Brazil.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramu ...

(''Buteogallus lacernulatus''),

harpy eagle The harpy eagle (''Harpia harpyja'') is a neotropical species of eagle. It is also called the American harpy eagle to distinguish it from the Papuan eagle, which is sometimes known as the New Guinea harpy eagle or Papuan harpy eagle. It is the ...

(''Harpia harpyja''),

red-browed amazon The red-browed amazon (''Amazona rhodocorytha'') is a species of parrot in the family Psittacidae. It is endemic to Atlantic Forest in eastern Brazil. It has been considered a subspecies of the blue-cheeked amazon (''Amazona dufresniana''), bu ...

(''Amazona rhodocorytha''),

brown-backed parrotlet The brown-backed parrotlet (''Touit melanonotus'') also known as the black-backed parrotlet, the black-eared parrotlet, and Wied's parrotlet, is a small () green parrot found in south-eastern Brazil from Bahia to southern São Paulo. It has a dar ...

(''Touit melanonotus''), golden-tailed parrotlet (''Touit surdus''),

black-headed berryeater The black-headed berryeater (''Carpornis melanocephala'') is a species of bird in the family Cotingidae. It is endemic to Brazil. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss. Identifi ...

(''Carpornis melanocephala''), rufous-brown solitaire (''Cichlopsis leucogenys''),

buff-throated purpletuft The buff-throated purpletuft (''Iodopleura pipra'') is a small species of South American bird in the family Tityridae. It has traditionally been placed in the cotinga family, but evidence strongly suggest it is better placed in Tityridae, ...

(''Iodopleura pipra''),

Salvadori's antwren Salvadori's antwren (''Myrmotherula minor'') is a species of bird in the family Thamnophilidae. It is endemic to Brazil. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss Habitat destruct ...

(''Myrmotherula minor''),

band-tailed antwren The band-tailed antwren (''Myrmotherula urosticta'') is a species of insectivorous bird in the family Thamnophilidae. It is endemic to Brazil. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss. ...

(''Myrmotherula urosticta''),

Bahia tyrannulet The Bahia tyrannulet (''Phylloscartes beckeri'') is a species of bird in the family Tyrannidae. It is endemic to the state of Bahia in eastern Brazil. It is the second most recently described bird in the genus ''Phylloscartes'' after the cinnamo ...

(''Phylloscartes beckeri''),

ochre-marked parakeet The ochre-marked parakeet (''Pyrrhura cruentata'') is a species of parrot native to Brazil. It is also known as blue-throated parakeet and red-eared conure in English and ''tiriba-grande'', ''tiriba'', ''cara-suja'' and ''fura-mato-grande'' in P ...

(''Pyrrhura cruentata''),

Temminck's seedeater Temminck's seedeater (''Sporophila falcirostris'') is a species of bird in the family Thraupidae. It is found in eastern South America, mainly in far northeastern Argentina and along the southeastern Brazilian coastline. Its natural habitats are ...

(''Sporophila falcirostris''), buffy-fronted seedeater (''Sporophila frontalis''),

long-tailed woodnymph The long-tailed woodnymph (''Thalurania watertonii'') is a species of hummingbird in the family Trochilidae. It is found in humid forest in northeastern Brazil, where it is known from the states of Pernambuco, Alagoas, Sergipe and the northernmo ...

(''Thalurania watertonii''),

striated softtail The striated softtail (''Thripophaga macroura'') is a species of bird in the family Furnariidae. It is endemic to eastern Brazil. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical moist montane fo ...

(''Thripophaga macroura'') and white-winged cotinga (''Xipholena atropurpurea'').

Notes

Sources

* * * * * * {{authority control 2010 establishments in Brazil Protected areas of Bahia National parks of Brazil Protected areas of the Atlantic Forest