Brazil is an amazingly biodiverse country that's famous for its rainforests and tropical wetlands, particularly the Amazon river basin. Brazil established its first national parks in the 1930s and today has more than 60 protected natural areas that are part of its national parks system.
Understand
[edit]The goal of Brazil's national parks to preserve ecosystems of great ecological importance and scenic beauty, and to support scientific research, education, environmental interpretation, recreation and eco-tourism. National parks are administered by the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (abbreviated as ICMBio), which is an agency under the Department of the Environment.
Parks
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Map of Brazilian national parks
- 1 Amazônia National Park - more than 1 million hectares representing several tropical ecosystems in the Amazon basin
- 2 Jaú National Park - several thousand square kilometers of rainforest including several rivers (Rio Negro, the Rio Jaú, the Rio Carabinani and the Rio Unini).
- 3 Pacaás Novos National Park
- Pacaás Novos mountain range, including the headwaters of the Rio Pacaás Novos - 4 Serra da Cutia National Park - large park that includes a mountain range and open savanna
- 5 Araguaia National Park - part of Bananal Island on the Rio Araguaia, preserve for indigenous cultures
- 6 Nascentes do Rio Parnaíba National Park - 700,000 hectares of tropical savanna
- 7 Chapada Diamantina National Park - protects the Serra do Cincora with mountains, valleys, monoliths, caves, rivers and waterfalls.
- 8 Fernando de Noronha Marine National Park — protects an Atlantic island and its surrounding waters
- 9 Lençois Maranhenses National Park - photogenic park with miles of white sandy dunes whose valleys fill with water in the rainy season
- 10 Sete Cidades National Park - area of open savanna with geologic formations and pre-historic cave paintings
- 11 Serra da Capivara National Park - unusual geologic formations and caves containing the oldest pre-historic cave paintings in the Americas, a
UNESCO World Heritage Site - 12 Catimbau National Park - Brazil's second largest archeological site, with over 2000 caves including 28 sites with cave paintings up to 6000 years old, and many canyons
- 13 Ubajara National Park — Caves and waterfalls in the state of Ceara.
- 14 Chapada dos Guimarães National Park — Rugged terrain with dramatic cliffs and waterfalls.
- 15 Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park — Large park preserving the cerrado ecosystem with great landscapes, gorgeous waterfalls and lakes.
- 16 Emas National Park — Treeless savanna that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
- 17 Pantanal Matogrossense National Park - protects more than 135,000 hectares of the Pantanal wetlands
- 18 Serra da Bodoquena National Park - swamplands in the Pantanal region
- 19 Itatiaia National Park - Brazil's oldest national park is a ruggedly beautiful region of lush forests, lakes, rivers, waterfalls, alpine meadows, and rainforests.
- 20 Serra da Canastra National Park - Protects the headwaters of the São Francisco river and is known for its numerous waterfalls, diverse wildlife and for being a haven for the endangered Brazilian Merganser.
- 21 Serra da Bocaina National Park - Protects the largest continuous expanse of Brazil's Atlantic Forest inside Serra do Mar.
- 22 Iguaçu National Park - One of the world's most spectacular waterfalls, on the border with Argentina and Paraguay
- 23 Superagüi National Park - Atlantic coastal park that includes several islands. A UNESCO World Heritage Site.
- 24 Serra do Itajaí National Park - Protects an area of Atlantic Forest biome.
See also
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