The Cantão 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
Tocantins
Tocantins () is one of the 26 states of Brazil. It is the newest state, formed in 1988 and encompassing what had formerly been the northern two-fifths of the state of Goiás. Tocantins covers and had an estimated population of 1,496,880 in 2014 ...
,
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 ...
.
It protects the
Cantão Cantão is a tropical forest ecosystem located in the central Araguaia River, Araguaia river basin, the southeastern edge of the Amazon biome, in the Brazilian state of Tocantins. It is one of the biologically richest areas of the eastern Amazon, ...
wetlands, an area of
igapó flooded forest in the
ecotone
An ecotone is a transitional area between two plant communities, where these meet and integrate. Examples include areas between grassland and forest, estuaries and lagoon, freshwater and sea water etc. An ecotone may be narrow or wide, and it ma ...
where the
Amazon rainforest
The Amazon rainforest, also called the Amazon jungle or Amazonia, is a Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, moist broadleaf tropical rainforest in the Amazon biome that covers most of the Amazon basin of South America. This basin ...
merges into the
cerrado
The Cerrado () is a vast ecoregion of Tropics, tropical savanna in central Brazil, being present in the states of Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Tocantins, Maranhão, PiauÃ, Bahia, Minas Gerais, São Paulo (state), São Paulo, Paraná ...
.
Location
The Cantão State Park is located in the municipality of
Pium
Pium is a municipality in the state of Tocantins in the Northern region of Brazil.
The municipality contains the Cantão State Park, created in 1998.
It contains 21.56% of the Ilha do Bananal / Cantão Environmental Protection Area, created ...
, Tocantins.
It has an area of .
The park is bounded to the west by the
Araguaia River
The Araguaia River ( , Karajá language, Karajá: ♂ ''Berohokỹ'' eɾohoˈkə̃ ♀ ''Bèrakuhukỹ'' ɛɾakuhuˈkə̃ is one of the major rivers of Brazil, and a tributary of the Tocantins River.
Geography
The Araguaia River comes from ...
, which forms the border with the state of
Pará
Pará () is a Federative units of Brazil, state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon River. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins (state), Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas (Brazilian st ...
.
The
Javaés River separates the state park from the
Araguaia National Park to the south.
It is bounded by the
Ilha do Bananal / Cantão Environmental Protection Area to the east.
The park would be in the proposed
South Amazon Ecotones Ecological Corridor.
History
The Cantão State Park was created by state law 996 of 14 July 1998 with an area of .
The primary purpose is protecting fauna, flora and natural resources with tourism potential to ensure their rational, sustainable use compatible with preserving the local ecosystems.
The deliberative council was created in the same law.
The boundaries were altered by law 1.319 of 4 April 2002 to contain an area of .
The management plan was approved on 25 August 2005.
Ordnance 740 defined rules to be followed for the Projeto Quelônios for turtle conservation.
The buffer zone was defined in 2005.
The revised management plan was approved on 3 August 2016.
As of 2016 the park was supported by the
Amazon Region Protected Areas Program.
Environment
The Cantão is a broad alluvial plain between the Araguaia River to the west and the
Coco River to the east.
At one time the lower Coco was probably a meander of the Javaés, in turn a branch of the Araguaia.
The region is full of abandoned channels and lakes.
Floods connect the lakes in the rainy season for 2–6 months starting in October to form a single body of water, so species adapted to flooding are prevalent.
The Cantão holds an ecotone between the Amazon and the cerrado, and includes species typical of both biomes.
The lakes are nurseries for fish, turtles and alligators.
One survey identified 317 species of birds, including the endemic
bananal antbird (''Cercomacra ferdinandi'') and
Araguaia Spinetail (''Synallaxis simoni'').
There is a large population of jaguars (''Panthera onca'').
Facilities
The park has an energy supply, guardhouse, visitor center, gazebo, accommodation, parking, staff residence, dock, vehicles and boats.
The park supports camping and recreation as well as scientific research.
It runs various educational activities such as lectures, workshops, training courses, video shows and monitored trails.
Notes
Sources
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External links
Instituto Araguaia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cantao State Park
State parks of Brazil
Protected areas of Tocantins
1998 establishments in Brazil