Guaraqueçaba Environmental Protection Area () is a protected area in the State of Paraná,

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 includes Atlantic Forest, mangrove,

salt marsh A salt marsh, saltmarsh or salting, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. I ...

and estuarine environments in an area with a relatively low human population.

Location

The protected area, which covers of coastal marine environment, was established on 31 January 1985. It 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 ...

. It covers parts of the municipalities of Antonina, Campina Grande do Sul,

Guaraqueçaba Guaraqueçaba is the easternmost municipality in the Brazilian state of Paraná, and one of the few coastal municipalities of the state. The short Ararapira River marks the border with São Paulo. Guaraqueçaba has historical significance, being a ...

and

Paranaguá Paranaguá (Tupi language, Tupi, 'Great Round Sea') is a city in the state of Paraná (state), Paraná in Brazil. Founded in 1648, it is Paraná's oldest city. It is known for the Port of Paranaguá, which serves as both the sea link for Curitiba, ...

in the State of Paraná. It includes diverse environments of the Atlantic Forest biome including tropical rain forest, montane forest, mangrove and salt marsh. The climate is typical of the humid tropical zone with high rainfall, and average temperature of about . The area includes the Superagui National Park and the

Guaraqueçaba Ecological Station Guaraqueçaba Ecological Station () is an ecological station in the municipality of Guaraqueçaba, Paraná, Brazil. Location The Guaraqueçaba ecological station with an area of was established on 31 May 1982. It is in the coastal marine biom ...

. The coastal area is in the

Iguape-Cananéia-Paranaguá estuary lagoon complex The Iguape-Cananéia-Paranaguá estuary lagoon complex () is a stretch of interconnected coastal estuaries and lagoons that extends southwest from Iguape in the south of São Paulo past Cananéia, São Paulo to Paranaguá, Paraná. It includes t ...

Conservation

The area is classed 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 ...

V, protected landscape/seascape. Objectives are to protect biological diversity, manage human impacts and ensure the sustainable use of natural resources. The area was created to protect one of the last representative areas of Atlantic Forest biome as well as the Paranaguá Bay estuarine complex and archaeological sites, to control the use of pesticides, to preserve the ''

caiçaras Caiçaras () are a people who inhabit the coastlines of the Brazil, Brazilian states of Paraná (state), Paraná, São Paulo (state), São Paulo and Santa Catarina (state), Santa Catarina, and the municipalities of Paraty and Angra dos Reis, in the ...

'' communities that have become integrated into the regional ecosystem and to establish rational criteria for land use in the region. The conservation unit is part of the Lagamar mosaic. Protected species include

black-fronted piping guan The black-fronted piping guan (''Pipile jacutinga'') or jacutinga in Brazilian Portuguese is a bird in the chachalaca, guan, and curassow family Cracidae. It is native to the Serra do Mar coastal forests, Paraguay and northeastern Argentina.de ...

(''Pipile jacutinga''),

red-tailed amazon The red-tailed amazon (''Amazona brasiliensis''), also known as the red-tailed parrot, is a species of parrot in the family Psittacidae. It is native to the Serra do Mar coastal forests. The bird has been threatened by habitat loss and capture for ...

(''Amazona brasiliensis''),

white-necked hawk The white-necked hawk (''Buteogallus lacernulatus'') is a Vulnerable species of bird of prey in the subfamily Accipitrinae, the "true" hawks, of family Accipitridae. It is endemic to Brazil.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Clar ...

(''Buteogallus lacernulatus''),

black-headed berryeater The black-headed berryeater (''Carpornis melanocephala'') is a species of bird in the family Cotingidae. It is endemic to eastern Brazil. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss du ...

(''Carpornis melanocephala''),

purple-winged ground dove The purple-winged ground dove (''Paraclaravis geoffroyi'') is a critically endangered species of dove, native to the Atlantic forest, mainly near bamboo, in south-eastern Brazil, far eastern Paraguay, and northern-eastern Argentina (Misiones onl ...

(''Claravis geoffroyi''),

neon goby ''Elacatinus'' is a genus of small marine Goby, gobies, often known collectively as the neon gobies. Although only one species, ''E. oceanops'', is technically the "neon goby", because of their similar appearance, other members of the genus ...

(''Elacatinus figaro''), Superagui lion tamarin (''Leontopithecus caissara'') and

fasciated tiger heron The fasciated tiger heron (''Tigrisoma fasciatum'') is a species of heron in the family Ardeidae. It is present in southern Central America and parts of northern and central South America, where its natural habitat is rivers. In 1988 the fascia ...

(''Tigrisoma fasciatum''}. File:Mapa da Área de Proteção Ambiental de Guaraqueçaba.jpg, Guaraqueçaba Environmental Protection Area (Large red outline) and conservation units and communities it includes File:Guaraqueçaba - Paraná - Brasil.......jpg, Estuary and mountains File:Colhelheiros guaras.jpg, Guarás in the trees of the Guaraqueçaba Ecological station

Notes

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Guaraquecaba Environmental Protection Area Environmental protection areas of Brazil Protected areas of Paraná (state) Protected areas of the Atlantic Forest 1985 establishments in Brazil Protected areas established in 1985