São Joaquim National Park ( pt, Parque Nacional de São Joaquim) 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 Santa Catarina, Brazil.

Location

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. It covers and area of . It was established by decree on 6 July 1961, 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 covers parts of the municipalities of

Urubici Urubici is a southern Brazilian municipality located in the state of Santa Catarina. History Economy The economy of the region is based on agriculture and tourism. Neighboring cities Some of the nearest cities are São Joaquim-60 km (37. ...

, Orleans, Grão Pará and

Bom Jardim da Serra Bom Jardim da Serra is a municipality in the state of Santa Catarina in the South region of Brazil. It has an area of approximately 935 km². The city is one of the coldest in Brazil and sometimes there is chance of snow. Located at 1,245 ...

in Santa Catarina. It was originally set aside to preserve exceptional remnant forests of the Paraná pine, ''

Araucaria angustifolia ''Araucaria angustifolia'', the Paraná pine, Brazilian pine or candelabra tree (, or ), is a critically endangered species in the conifer genus '' Araucaria''. Although the common names in various languages refer to the species as a "pine", it d ...

''. It is now also popular for alpinism. The park adjoins the

Serra Furada State Park The Serra Furada State Park ( pt, Parque Estadual da Serra Furada) is a state park in the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil. It protects a densely forested mountain region of dramatic beauty in the Atlantic Forest biome. Location The Serra Furada ...

, created in 1980. Temperatures range from , with an average of . The terrain is very rugged and includes canyons, large caves and slopes covered in native forest. Altitudes range from . The park is the source of the main rivers of the state, holding the basins of the Canoas River,

Tubarão River The Tubarão River is a river in the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina. Geographical aspects It originates from the confluence of the Rocinha river and Bonito river in the municipality of Lauro Müller. The Tubarão River flows from the Serra ...

and

Pelotas River The Pelotas River (Portuguese language, Portuguese, ''Rio Pelotas'') () is a river in southern Brazil, and a tributary of the Uruguay River. The river originates in the Serra Geral at Alto do Bispo and flows northeast for before meeting the Cano ...

. The cold climate does not support a large amount of wildlife, but there are several endangered species living in and around the park.

Conservation

The park is classified 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). It has the objectives of preserving natural ecosystems of great ecological relevance and scenic beauty, enabling scientific research, environmental education, outdoors recreation and eco-tourism. The park is intended to preserve the Araucária Forest, alpine meadows and cloud forests. Protected species in the park include maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus),

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),

red-spectacled amazon The red-spectacled amazon (''Amazona pretrei'') is a species of parrot in the family Psittacidae. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest, subtropical or tropical moist lowland ...

(Amazona pretrei) and Chaco eagle (Buteogallus coronatus). File:Cascade Bridal Veil (Cascata Véu de Noiva).jpg, Bridal veil cascade File:Alvorecer de Prata.JPG, Ice on plants in high meadow File:Parque Nacional de São Joaquim - Grão Pará 06.jpg, mountainside road

Notes

Sources

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sao Joaquim National Park 1961 establishments in Brazil National parks of Brazil Protected areas of Santa Catarina (state) Urubici Protected areas of the Atlantic Forest