The Três Picos State Park ( pt, Parque Estadual dos Três Picos) 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

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 ...

, Brazil. It preserves a large, 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

When created, the Três Picos State Park was divided between the municipalities of

Cachoeiras de Macacu Cachoeiras de Macacu (; means "Macacu Waterfalls" in Portuguese) is a municipality located in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro. Its population was 59,303 (2020) and its area is 956 km². Next to neighboring Rio Bonito municipality, it c ...

(48.92%),

Guapimirim Guapimirim (, from Tupi 'little spring', ''guapi'' 'spring', ''mirim'' 'little'), is a Brazilian Municipality in the state of Rio de Janeiro around 50km(31 miles) from its state capital, the city of Rio de Janeiro. Its in a region known as Baixad ...

(4.21%),

Nova Friburgo Nova Friburgo (, ger, Neufreiburg, , en, New Fribourg, commonly referred to as just "Friburgo") is a municipality in the state of Rio de Janeiro in southeastern Brazil. It is located in the mountainous region, in the Center Mesoregion of the stat ...

(19.26%),

Silva Jardim Silva Jardim () is a municipality located in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro. Its population was 21,774 (2020) and its area is 938 km². Conservation The municipality contains the Poço das Antas Biological Reserve, a strictly prote ...

(7.53%) and

Teresópolis Teresópolis (, , , ) is a Brazilian municipality located in the state of Rio de Janeiro, in a mountainous region known as ''Região Serrana''. The Serra dos Órgãos National Park lies partly within the city limits. The city is known as the hom ...

(20.08%) in the state of Rio de Janeiro. As of 2016 about two thirds of the area was in the municipality of Cachoeiras de Macacu. The park is named after the Três Picos (Three Peaks) mountains, which reach in altitude, and are considered to be the center 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 ...

range. The peaks present over 100 routes of varying levels of difficulty to climbers. There are dozens of waterfalls of great beauty in Cachoeiras de Macacu.

Environment

The state park is the largest in Rio de Janeiro, and preserves a large portion of

in excellent condition. The park has the greatest biodiversity found in Rio de Janeiro due to the range in altitude from . Vegetation ranges from dense sub-montane rainforest to cloud forest and alpine meadows. It is considered a priority for conservation. It is home to endangered species such as hawks 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'') that require large areas of preserved environment within which to find their prey. It also includes a variety of arthropods, fish, amphibians and reptiles.

History

The Três Picos State Park was created by state decree 31.343 of 5 June 2002, with a total area of about in the

in the center of the state. The objectives are to ensure preservation of remnants of the Atlantic Forest in the portion of the Serra do Mar in Rio de Janeiro, to recover degraded areas, to preserve rare, endemic and endangered species of native fauna and flora, to integrate with the central Atlantic Forest corridor in the state, to maintain springs and water bodies that supply the cities, and to encourage recreation, environmental education and scientific research where compatible with the other goals. The park is part of the

Central Rio de Janeiro Atlantic Forest Mosaic The Central Rio de Janeiro Atlantic Forest Mosaic ( pt, Mosaico da Mata Atlântica Central Fluminense is a protected area mosaic in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The mosaic is inland, to the east of the city of Rio de Janeiro. History A p ...

, created in 2006. It was expanded by state decree 41990 of 12 August 2009 with the addition of in the municipalities of Cachoeiras de Macacu, Nova Friburgo and Silva Jardim. As of 2009 the area was . On 31 October 2013 the boundaries were redefined by state law 6.573 with the extinction of the

Paraíso Ecological Station The Paraíso Ecological Station ( pt, Paraíso Ecological Station Paraíso) was an ecological station in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In 2013, it was absorbed into the Três Picos State Park. Location The Paraíso Ecological Station (ESE ...

and the Jacarandá State Environmental Protection Area and modification of the Bacia dos Frades Environmental Protection Area. As of 2016 the park covered .

Notes

Sources

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tres Picos State Park State parks of Brazil Protected areas of Rio de Janeiro (state) 2002 establishments in Brazil