The Macaé de Cima Environmental Protection Area ( pt, Área de Proteção Ambiental Estadual Macaé de Cima) is a state-level environmental protection area in the state of

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, Brazil. It protects an area of

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 ...

in the

Serra do Mar The Serra do Mar (, Portuguese for ''Sea's Ridge'' or ''Sea Ridge'') is a 1,500 km long system of mountain ranges and escarpments in Southeastern Brazil. Geography The Serra do Mar runs parallel to the Atlantic Ocean coast from the state ...

mountains.

Location

The Macaé de Cima Environmental Protection Area (APA) covers an area of . is in the southern part of the municipality of

Nova Friburgo Nova Friburgo (, ger, Neufreiburg, , en, New Fribourg, commonly referred to as just "Friburgo") is a municipality in the state of Rio de Janeiro in southeastern Brazil. It is located in the mountainous region, in the Center Mesoregion of the stat ...

, and is in the north of the municipality of Casimiro de Abreu. The APA adjoins the municipalities of

Macaé Macaé () is a municipality located in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro, 180 km northeast of the state capital. It is the birthplace of the 13th president of Brazil, Washington Luís. Location Macaé is generally considered to be th ...

Trajano de Morais Trajano de Moraes () is a municipality located in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, ...

, Bom Jardim,

Cachoeiras de Macacu Cachoeiras de Macacu (; means "Macacu Waterfalls" in Portuguese) is a municipality located in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro. Its population was 59,303 (2020) and its area is 956 km². Next to neighboring Rio Bonito municipality, it c ...

and

Silva Jardim Silva Jardim () is a municipality located in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro. Its population was 21,774 (2020) and its area is 938 km². Conservation The municipality contains the Poço das Antas Biological Reserve, a strictly prote ...

. It lies completely within the basin of the

Macaé River The Macaé River is a river of Rio de Janeiro state in southeastern Brazil that flows into the Atlantic Ocean at the town of Macaé. The upper part of the Macaé River basin is protected by the Macaé de Cima Environmental Protection Area, creat ...

. The RJ-142 highway between the cities of Nova Friburgo and Casimiro de Abreu runs through the APA beside the Macaé River. The APA overlaps with the Rio Bonito and Macaé de Cima municipal environmental protection areas and the

Três Picos State Park The Três Picos State Park ( pt, Parque Estadual dos Três Picos) is a state park in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It preserves a large, mountainous region of Atlantic Forest. Location When created, the Três Picos State Park was divided ...

. It is in the Central Rio de Janeiro Atlantic Forest Mosaic, created in 2006.

History

The Macaé de Cima Environmental Protection Area was created by state decree 29.213 of 14 September 2001. It was created to protect a remnant of the dense rainforest that once covered the entire

, which is home to rare, endangered or endemic native species, and to protect the headwaters of the Macaé de Cima,

Bonito Bonitos are a tribe of medium-sized, ray-finned predatory fish in the family Scombridae – a family it shares with the mackerel, tuna, and Spanish mackerel tribes, and also the butterfly kingfish. Also called the tribe Sardini, it consists of ...

, Das Flores and Santo Antônio rivers.

Environment

The terrain is mostly rugged, with altitudes that range from . The climate is wet, with average annual rainfall of . September is the driest month and December is the wettest. Vegetation is montane or submontane rainforest. Fauna found in the APA include the

white-bearded antshrike The white-bearded antshrike (''Biatas nigropectus'') is a species of bird in the family Thamnophilidae, the only member of the genus ''Biatas''. It is endemic to the Atlantic forest of Argentina and Brazil. The white-bearded antshrike is a bambo ...

(''Biatas nigropectus''),

sloth Sloths are a group of Neotropical xenarthran mammals constituting the suborder Folivora, including the extant arboreal tree sloths and extinct terrestrial ground sloths. Noted for their slowness of movement, tree sloths spend most of their li ...

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''),

ocelot The ocelot (''Leopardus pardalis'') is a medium-sized spotted wild cat that reaches at the shoulders and weighs between on average. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. Two subspecies are recognized. It is native to the southwes ...

(''Leopardus pardalis''),

southern tamandua The southern tamandua (''Tamandua tetradactyla''), also called the collared anteater or lesser anteater, is a species of anteater from South America and the island of Trinidad in the Caribbean. It is a solitary animal found in many habitats, from ...

(''Tamandua tetradactyla''),

buffy-tufted marmoset The buffy-tufted marmoset (''Callithrix aurita''), also known as the buffy tufted-ear marmoset or white-eared marmoset, is a New World monkey that lives in the forests on the Atlantic coast of southeast Brazil. Of all the marmosets, it has the so ...

(Callithrix aurita),

hawk Hawks are bird of prey, birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are widely distributed and are found on all continents except Antarctica. * The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks and others. Th ...

falcon Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Falcons are widely distributed on all continents of the world except Antarctica, though closely related raptors did occur there in the Eocene. Adult falcons ...

toucan Toucans (, ) are members of the Neotropical near passerine bird family Ramphastidae. The Ramphastidae are most closely related to the American barbets. They are brightly marked and have large, often colorful bills. The family includes five ge ...

howler monkey Howler monkeys (genus ''Alouatta'', monotypic in subfamily Alouattinae) are the most widespread primate genus in the Neotropics and are among the largest of the platyrrhines along with the muriquis (''Brachyteles''), the spider monkeys (''Ateles' ...

capybara The capybaraAlso called capivara (in Brazil), capiguara (in Bolivia), chigüire, chigüiro, or fercho (in Colombia and Venezuela), carpincho (in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay) and ronsoco (in Peru). or greater capybara (''Hydrochoerus hydro ...

paca A paca is a member of the genus ''Cuniculus'' of ground-dwelling, herbivorous rodents in South and Central America. It is the only genus in the family Cuniculidae. Pacas are large rodents with dots and stripes on their sides, short ears, and ...

armadillo Armadillos (meaning "little armored ones" in Spanish) are New World placental mammals in the order Cingulata. The Chlamyphoridae and Dasypodidae are the only surviving families in the order, which is part of the superorder Xenarthra, along wi ...

common agouti The agouti (, ) or common agouti is any of several rodent species of the genus ''Dasyprocta''. They are native to Middle America (Americas), Middle America, northern and central South America, and the southern Lesser Antilles. Some species have ...

jaguarundi The jaguarundi (''Herpailurus yagouaroundi'') is a wild cat native to the Americas. Its range extends from central Argentina in the south to northern Mexico, through Central and South America east of the Andes. The jaguarundi is a medium-sized ...

and

deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the reindeer ...

Human activities

There are several places of natural beauty that the public uses for leisure and recreation, but generally they are in private areas. A considerable amount of research is conducted in the APA, particularly by the

Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden The Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden or Jardim Botânico is located at the Jardim Botânico district in the South Zone of Rio de Janeiro. The Botanical Garden shows the diversity of Brazilian and foreign flora. There are around 6,500 species (so ...

and

Fluminense Federal University The Fluminense Federal University ( Portuguese: ''Universidade Federal Fluminense'', UFF, named after the state's demonym) is a public higher education institution located mainly in Niterói and in other cities of Rio de Janeiro state. It was f ...

. The APA is suitable for tourism in contact with nature, bathing in the rivers and waterfalls, birdwatching and extreme outdoor sports such as kayaking, rafting, trekking, mountain biking, rappelling and tree climbing. Threats include real estate speculation, sewage, hunting, deforestation to expand pasturage, growth of banana cultivation and lack of communication.

Notes

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Macae de Cima Environmental Protection Area Environmental protection areas of Brazil Protected areas of Rio de Janeiro (state) 2001 establishments in Brazil