The Serra do Papagaio State Park ( pt, Parque Estadual da Serra do Papagaio) 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 Minas Gerais, Brazil. It protects a mountainous region 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 ...

Location

The Serra do Papagaio State Park is divided between the municipalities of

Aiuruoca Aiuruoca is a city in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. Th ...

(15.76%), Alagoa (5.38%),

Baependi Baependi is a Brazilian municipality located in the state of Minas Gerais. Location The population of Baependi as of 2020 was estimated to be 19,199 people living at an altitude of 893 meters. The area of the municipality is 751.748 km². ...

(39.93%),

Itamonte Itamonte is a city in the south of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Its population was 15,714 (2020) and its area is 432 km². Location Itamonte is a touristic city in the Serra da Mantiqueira mountains. The territorial area is 430,597 km² big. The ci ...

(34.54%) and

Pouso Alto Pouso Alto (translation: High Landing) is a municipality in the state of Minas Gerais in the Southeast region of Brazil. The municipality contains 4.39% of the Serra do Papagaio State Park, created in 1998. See also *List of municipalities in M ...

(4.39%) in Minas Gerais. It has an area of . The park is located in the

Mantiqueira Mountains The Mantiqueira Mountains (Portuguese: ''Serra da Mantiqueira iterally: Mantiqueira Mountains Chain') are a mountain range in Southeastern Brazil, with parts in the states of São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro. It rises abruptly from the ...

, and includes parts of the Garrafão and Papagaio ranges. About half the area has steep slopes and altitudes above . The highest peaks are in the south, including the Morro da Mitra do Bispo at and the southeast, including the Pico do Bandeira at .

Environment

The park holds an important remnant of

. It includes meadows, forests and enclaves of

Araucaria ''Araucaria'' (; original pronunciation: .ɾawˈka. ɾja is a genus of evergreen Conifer, coniferous trees in the family Araucariaceae. There are 20 extant taxon, extant species in New Caledonia (where 14 species are endemism, ende ...

forest. It is the source of the headwaters of major rivers that form the

Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The length of the Rio G ...

. Geographically it is connected to the northern part of the Itatiaia National Park, helping protect fauna and flora by providing a continuous area of protected mountains. Construction of a hydroelectric power plant in the municipality of Aiuruoca, within the Serra da Mantiqueira Environmental Protection Area and part of the Serra do Papagaio State Park, has caused outrage in the local community and environmentalists. It is part of a program to build 65 small hydroelectric plants in Brazil, including 33 in Minas Gerais, which would threaten the last remnants of riparian forest in the state.

History

The Serra do Papagaio State Park was created by state governor decree 39.793 of 5 August 1998 with an area of about . It is administered by the Instituto Estadual de Florestas. It is part of the Mantiqueira Mosaic of conservation units, created in 2006.

Gallery

file:Parque Estadual Serra do Papagaio - MG.jpg, Neblina em floresta de araucárias file:Pico do Garrafão (1).jpg, Pico do Garrafão file:Cassidinae, Stolas cf conspersa, Matutu MG.jpg, Besouro-tartaruga encontrado em trilha file:Pico do Chorão (3).jpg, Pico do Chorão

Notes

Sources

* * {{authority control State parks of Brazil Protected areas of Minas Gerais 1998 establishments in Brazil