The Serra do Aracá 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
Amazonas, Brazil.
Location
The Serra do Aracá State Park is in the municipality of
Barcelos in the state of Amazonas.
The base of the Serra do Aracá, a sandstone
tepui
A tepui , or tepuy (), is a member of a family of table-top mountains or mesas found in northern South America, especially in Venezuela, western Guyana, and northern Brazil. The word tepui means "house of the gods" in the native tongue of the ...
after which the park is named, is from the municipal seat on the south (right) shore of the
Rio Negro.
It can be reached from there by boat along the
Cuieiras River. It may also be reached by chartered float plane.
From the base to the top of the serra is a 4–5 day journey on foot, or a short helicopter ride.
The park has an area of .
The park overlaps with the
Amazonas National Forest, which includes large areas of the park and extends to the west and east of the park.
It is also mostly within the
Yanomami Indigenous Territory
The Yanomami Indigenous Territory () is an Indigenous territory (Brazil), indigenous territory in the states of Amazonas (Brazilian state), Amazonas and Roraima, Brazil. It overlaps with several federal or state conservation units.
It is home to ...
.
To the northwest the park is bounded by the border with
Venezuela
Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...
and adjoins the Venezuelan
Parima Tapirapecó National Park
Parima Tapirapecó National Park (''Parque Nacional Parima Tapirapecó'') is a Venezuelan national park in the southern state of Amazonas.
Location
The Parima Tapirapecó National Park is in the Atabapo and Río Negro municipalities. It is ...
.
To the northeast it is bounded by the border with the state of
Roraima
Roraima ( ) is one of the 26 states of Brazil. Located in the country's North Region, it is the northernmost and most geographically and logistically isolated state in Brazil. It is bordered by the state of Pará to the southeast, Amazonas t ...
.
Environment
The park is in the high forest of the Guianas.
It is drained by the
Demini River, which rises in the park and flows southwest through the park, then flows south to join the
Rio Negro.
The terrain along the northwest and southwest borders is mountainous, and there are more isolated elevations in the east.
The most notable physical feature is the Serra do Aracá, a tabular plateau formed at the same time as
Mount Roraima
Mount Roraima (; ) is the highest of the Pacaraima chain of tepuis (table-top mountain) or plateaux in South America. It is located at the junction of Brazil, Guyana and Venezuela. A characteristic large flat-topped mountain surrounded by cliff ...
, which reaches an altitude of .
The centre of the park is relatively flat.
Vegetation includes montane and submontane rainforest,
campinarana
Campinarana (NT0158, ), also called Rio Negro Campinarana, is a neotropical ecoregion in the Amazon biome of the north west of Brazil, southern Venezuela, and the east of Colombia that contains vegetation adapted to extremely poor soil. It includ ...
and
campos rupestres
The ''campo rupestre'' ("rupestrian grassland") is a discontinuous montane subtropical ecoregion occurring across three different biomes in Brazil: Cerrado, Atlantic Forest and Caatinga. Originally, ''campo rupestre'' was used to characterize t ...
.
The fauna is typical of the mountain region, and includes some species new to science.
Due to its scenic beauty there is high potential for eco-tourism.
History
The Serra do Aracá State Park was created by decree 12.836 of the Amazonas governor
Amazonino Mendes
Amazonino Armando Mendes (16 November 1939 – 12 February 2023) was a Brazilian politician. He had served as the Governor of the Brazilian state of Amazonas for three non-consecutive tenures.
Mendes was born in Eirunepé, Amazonas. He first ...
on 9 March 1990. It is administered by the Centro Estadual de Unidades de Conservação do Amazonas (State Centre of Amazonas Conservation Units), part of the Environment secretariat of the state.
The Instituto Socioambiental (ISA) has noted that the Amazonas National Forest, with its goal of sustainable forestry, conflicts with the goals of the Indigenous Territories with which it overlaps.
In these territories the indigenous people have the exclusive right of use according to their customs and traditions.
The ISA stated in August 2011 that for this reason the Amazonas National Forest should be repealed.
On 14 November 2012 an inter-institutional task force was created to consider revised the boundaries of the Serra do Aracá park and the composition of the mosaic of conservation units around it and to consider the disaffection of the Yanomami Indigenous Territory from the Amazonas National Forest.
Notes
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Serra do Araca State Park
1990 establishments in Brazil
State parks of Brazil
Protected areas of Amazonas (Brazilian state)
Protected areas established in 1990