The Aguapeí State Park () is a

state park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "Federated state, state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on accou ...

in the state of

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

, Brazil. It protects an area of floodplain in the Atlantic Forest biome, home to many water birds.

Location

The Aguapeí State Park is divided between the municipalities of Castilho (2.57%),

Guaraçaí Guaraçaí is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. Its estimated population is of 8,290 inhabitants (as of 2020) in an area of and its elevation is of above the sea level. The municipality contains 32.46% of the from the Aguape ...

(38.42%), Junqueirópolis (16.46%), Monte Castelo (18.73%),

Nova Independência Nova Independência (Portuguese, 'New Independence') is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. The population is 4,053 (2020 est.) in an area of 265 km². The elevation is 316 m. The municipality contains 21.6% of the Aguapeí Stat ...

(21.58%) and São João do Pau d'Alho (2.24%) in the state of São Paulo. It has an area of . The park is about upstream from the point where the Aguapeí River joins

Paraná River The Paraná River ( ; ; ) is a river in south-central South America, running through Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina for some ."Parana River". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. ...

. The park would be part of the proposed Trinational Biodiversity Corridor, which aims to provide forest connections between conservation units in Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina in the Upper Paraná ecoregion.

Environment

The park contains large areas of floodplain, and is flooded in the rainy season when the Aguapeí overflows its banks. It is in the Atlantic Forest biome and contains seasonal semi-deciduous forest. Plants typical of this environment include '' Albizia hasslerii'', '' Aspidosperma polyneuron'', '' Pterogyne nitens'', '' Schizolobium parahyba'', '' Handroanthus heptaphyllus'', '' Tabebuia ochracea'' and '' Zeyheria tuberculosa''. There are also areas of '' várzea'' vegetation. Mammals include

capybara The capybara or greater capybara (''Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris'') is the largest living rodent, native to South America. It is a member of the genus '' Hydrochoerus''. The only other extant member is the lesser capybara (''Hydrochoerus isthmi ...

tapir Tapirs ( ) are large, herbivorous mammals belonging to the family Tapiridae. They are similar in shape to a Suidae, pig, with a short, prehensile nose trunk (proboscis). Tapirs inhabit jungle and forest regions of South America, South and Centr ...

and

deer A deer (: deer) or true deer is a hoofed ruminant ungulate of the family Cervidae (informally the deer family). Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae (which includes, among others, muntjac, elk (wapiti), red deer, and fallow deer) ...

. Bird species include

jabiru The jabiru ( or ; ''Jabiru mycteria'') is a large stork found in the Americas from Mexico to Argentina, except west of the Andes. It sometimes wanders into the United States, usually in Texas, but has also been reported in Mississippi, Oklahoma ...

(''Jabiru mycteria''),

wood stork The wood stork (''Mycteria americana'') is a large wading bird in the family (biology), family Ciconiidae (Ciconiiformes, storks). Originally described in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus, this stork is native to the subtropics and tropics of the Americas ...

(''Mycteria americana''), maguari stork (''Ciconia maguari''),

spoonbill Spoonbills are a genus, ''Platalea'', of large, long-legged wading birds. The spoonbills have a global distribution, being found on every continent except Antarctica. The genus name ''Platalea'' derives from Ancient Greek and means "broad", refe ...

great egret The great egret (''Ardea alba''), also known as the common egret, large egret, great white egret, or great white heron, is a large, widely distributed egret. The four subspecies are found in Asia, Africa, the Americas, and southern Europe. R ...

(''Ardea alba''),

snowy egret The snowy egret (''Egretta thula'') is a small white heron. The genus name comes from Provençal French for the little egret, , which is a diminutive of , 'heron'. The species name ''thula'' is the Araucano term for the black-necked swan, a ...

(''Egretta thula''),

garganey The garganey (''Spatula querquedula'') is a small dabbling duck. It breeds in much of Europe and across the Palearctic, but is strictly bird migration, migratory, with the entire population moving to Africa, India (in particular Santragachi), Ban ...

(''Anas querquedula''),

Neotropic cormorant The neotropic cormorant or olivaceous cormorant (''Nannopterum brasilianum'') is a medium-sized cormorant found throughout the American tropics and subtropics, from the middle Rio Grande and the Gulf and Californian coasts of the United States so ...

(''Phalacrocorax brasilianus'') and

southern screamer The southern screamer (''Chauna torquata'') is a species of bird in family Anhimidae of the waterfowl order Anseriformes. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. ...

(''Chauna torquata'').

History

The Aguapeí State Park was created as compensation when the Companhia Energética de São Paulo (CESP) built the Primavera Hydroelectric Power Plant on the Paraná River. The dam would flood of the Lagoa São Paulo Reserve and of the Great Pontal Reserve. The park was created by state decree 43.269 on 2 July 1998 with an area of . The purpose is to fully protect fauna, flora and natural beauty, while allowing the park to be used for educational, recreational and scientific purposes. Decree 44.730 of 28 February 2000 defined necessary public areas in the park. Fishing regulations were published on 2 October 2008, covering conservation areas and their buffer zones in the

basin. They were the Morro do Diabo State Park, Rio do Peixe State Park, Rio Aguapeí State Park,

Mico Leão Preto Ecological Station The Mico Leão Preto Ecological Station () is an Ecological station (Brazil), Ecological station in the state of São Paulo (state), São Paulo, Brazil. It protects four fragments of Atlantic Forest in a region that has lost most of its forest cov ...

, Ivinhema State Park, Ilha Grande National Park, Caiuá Ecological Station and

Iguaçu National Park Iguaçu National Park () is a National park (Brazil), national park in Paraná State, Brazil. It comprises a total area of and a length of about , of which are natural borders by bodies of water and the Argentine and Brazilian sides together c ...

. The perimeter of the park has been fenced, and the land has been acquired and donated to the state of São Paulo. The administrative headquarters and visitor center were opened in December 2015. Governor

Geraldo Alckmin Geraldo José Rodrigues Alckmin Filho (; born 7 November 1952) is a Brazilian physician and politician currently serving as 26th vice president of Brazil. He previously was the List of governors of São Paulo, Governor of São Paulo (state), S� ...

and Environment Secretary Patricia Iglecias attended the ceremony. The park was scheduled to be opened to the public early in 2016.

Notes

Sources

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Aguapei State Park State parks of Brazil Protected areas of São Paulo (state) 1998 establishments in Brazil Protected areas of the Atlantic Forest