The Serra do Mar State Park ( pt, Parque Estadual da Serra do Mar) 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

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 GaWC a ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. It covers of the

Serra do Mar The Serra do Mar (, Portuguese for ''Sea's Ridge'' or ''Sea Ridge'') is a 1,500 km long system of mountain ranges and escarpments in Southeastern Brazil. Geography The Serra do Mar runs parallel to the Atlantic Ocean coast from the state ...

mountain range, and is one of the largest remaining areas of continuous

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 ...

. The State Park stretches from the border of

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

Itariri Itariri is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. The population is 17,598 (2020 est.) in an area of 273.67 km². The elevation is 55 m. Itariri is situated on the BR-101 highway, 18 km west of the coastal city Peruíbe. The municipa ...

in the southern part of São Paulo.

Location

The Serra do Mar State Park was created in 1977 when the

BR-101 The BR-101 (also called ''Translitorânea'' (transcoastal), officially named ''Rodovia Governador Mário Covas''.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 ...

protected area in Brazil. The park contains some traditional 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 Slavery in Brazil, Afro-Brazilian slaves who escaped from slave plantations that existed in ...

s'',

Amerindian The Indigenous peoples of the Americas are the inhabitants of the Americas before the arrival of the European settlers in the 15th century, and the ethnic groups who now identify themselves with those peoples. Many Indigenous peoples of the Am ...

s, ''

caipira A Caipira () is an ethnic group native to Paulistânia, cultural area in Brazil, the term "''caipira''", of origin in the Paulista General language, probably influenced by the terms "''kai'pira''", "''ka'apir''", "''ka'a pora''" or "''kopira'' ...

s'' and ''

caiçaras Caiçaras () are the traditional inhabitants of the coastal regions of the southeastern and southern Brazil. They form a distinct group of people, descended from Africans, indigenous people, and Europeans. Their traditional way of life based on ...

''. It connects the

forests of

to the

Vale do Ribeira Vale do Ribeira is a region in the south of the state of São Paulo and the northeast of the state of Paraná, Brazil. It contains a large part of the Ribeira de Iguape River valley, from which it takes its name, as well as the coastal Iguape-Can ...

and Paraná. The escarpments of the park dominate the coast of São Paulo. It is part of the

Bocaina Mosaic The Bocaina Mosaic ( pt, Mosaico Bocaina) is a protected area mosaic on the border between Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, Brazil. It provides coordinated management for a group of 10 federal, state and municipal conservation units covering an are ...

, created in 2006.

Conservation

The Serra do Mar State Park is managed by the Forestry Foundation of São Paulo, which is linked to the São Paulo Secretariat of State for the Environment. The forest provides refuge to hundreds of species of

birds Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

and other animals. The park protects water sources that supply part of the

metropolitan region,

Baixada Santista The Baixada Santista is a metropolitan area located on the coast of São Paulo state in Brazil, with a population of 1.7 million. Its most populous city is Santos. As an administrative division (''Região Metropolitana da Baixada Santista''), it ...

Litoral Norte The Microregion of Caraguatatuba (), often referred as Litoral Norte (''Northern Coastline''), is a microregion in the easternmost coastal part of São Paulo State, Brazil. The microregion is bordered by the state of Rio de Janeiro to the east. I ...

, and the

Paraíba Valley The Paraíba Valley ( pt, Vale do Paraíba) is a landform that encompasses the regions: Paraíba Valley Metropolitan Region and Northern Coast, in the state of São Paulo and Sul-Fluminense Region, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, which stands out ...

. It also helps moderate the climate and maintain the stability of the slopes.

References

Sources

* * State parks of Brazil Protected areas of São Paulo (state) Protected areas established in 1977 1977 establishments in Brazil {{Brazil-protected-area-stub