Araucárias National Park () is a

national park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

in the state of Santa Catarina,

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Location

The Araucárias National Park is located in the Santa Catarina municipalities of

Passos Maia Passos Maia is a municipality in the state of Santa Catarina in the South region of Brazil. The municipality contains part of the Araucárias National Park, a conservation unit created in 2005. See also *List of municipalities in Santa Catari ...

and Ponte Serrada. The protected area was established on 19 October 2005 and has an area of . The park 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 a government agency under the administration of the Brazilian Ministry of the Environment. It is nam ...

. Annual rainfall averages . Average temperature is . The park is on the Campos Gerais, a plateau that slopes gently down to the west. The land ranges in altitude from . The vegetation in the area directly influenced by the park is mainly native secondary formations in different stages of regeneration, exploited primary forest, reforestation with exotic species (

Pinus A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as c ...

and

Eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of more than 700 species of flowering plants in the family Myrtaceae. Most species of ''Eucalyptus'' are trees, often Mallee (habit), mallees, and a few are shrubs. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalyp ...

), agricultural areas and pastures. The protected area is surrounded by a buffer zone holding small farms and agrarian reform settlements as well as soy plantations and cattle ranches. In addition to the characteristic ''

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

'' of the mixed rainforest there are other endangered species such as '' Dicksonia sellowiana'' and ''

Ocotea porosa ''Ocotea porosa'', commonly called imbuia or Brazilian walnut, is a species of plant in the Lauraceae family. Its wood is very hard, and it is a major commercial timber species in Brazil. Taxonomy and naming It is often placed in the related g ...

''. The forest helps maintain water quality in the

Chapecó Chapecó () is a municipality in the state of Santa Catarina (state), Santa Catarina, in the Southern Region of Brazil. Being a major industrial, financial and educational center, it is a major producer of industrialized food products. Considered ...

, Chapecozinho, Mato and Caratuva rivers.

Conservation

The park is classed as IUCN protected-area category II (national park). The basic objective is to preserve the natural environments, which hold remnants of the Araucária Forest and plants of the Atlantic Forest biome that are highly threatened by human activity. The park supports scientific research, environmental education, outdoor recreation and eco-tourism. The parks is threatened by wild boars, abandoned domestic animals, disturbed areas and the practice of hunting wild animals. Protected species include

maned wolf The maned wolf (''Chrysocyon brachyurus'') is a large canine of South America. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, and Paraguay, and is almost extinct in Uruguay. Its markings resemble those of a red fox, but it is neither a fox nor ...

(Chrysocyon brachyurus), helmeted woodpecker (Dryocopus galeatus),

ocelot The ocelot (''Leopardus pardalis'') is a medium-sized spotted Felidae, wild cat that reaches at the shoulders and weighs between on average. It is native to the southwestern United States, Mexico, Central America, Central and South America, ...

(Leopardus pardalis) and

cougar The cougar (''Puma concolor'') (, ''Help:Pronunciation respelling key, KOO-gər''), also called puma, mountain lion, catamount and panther is a large small cat native to the Americas. It inhabits North America, North, Central America, Cent ...

(Puma concolor). Dia ensolarado no PARNA.jpg, File:Araucária.jpg, Araucária File:Vale de araucárias.jpg, Stand of araucárias File:Vale da saudade.jpg, Deforested area

Notes

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Araucarias National Park National parks of Brazil Protected areas of Santa Catarina (state) Protected areas of the Atlantic Forest