Amazônia National Park

{{Infobox protected area

| name = Amazônia National Park

| alt_name = Parque Nacional da Amazônia

| iucn_category = II

| photo = Parque-nacional-da-amazonia-7.jpg

| photo_alt =

| photo_caption = Park in May 2014

| photo_width =

| map = Brazil |relief=1

| map_alt =

| map_caption =

| map_width =

| location = Pará, Brazil

| nearest_city =

| coords = {{Coord|4|26|22|S|56|50|25|W|display=inline,title}}

| coords_ref =

| region =

| area = {{convert|1,070,737|ha}}

| established = 1974

| designation = National park

| visitation_num =

| visitation_year =

| governing_body = Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade

}}

The Amazônia National Park ({{langx|pt|Parque Nacional da Amazônia}}) was created in 1974, as a national park comprising 1,070,737 ha. It is situated in Itaituba and Trairão municipalities, Pará state, in the north region of Brazil. It is located in the watershed of the Tapajós River, about halfway between Manaus and Belém. It has expanded since its inception and now covers {{convert|8600|km2|mi2}}. It is a very biodiverse habitat and contains a wide range of animals and plants.{{sfn|Amazonia National Park – Encyclopædia Britannica}}

The specific objectives of the park are the preservation of various Amazonic ecosystems, through scientific, educational and recreational means.{{sfn|Parna da Amazônia – ISA|loc=Characteristics}}

Geography

The park lies on either side of the Tapajós River. The habitat is dense lowland rain forest and there are areas of white-sand grasslands beside the upper reaches of the Tapajós. This river rises in the Precambrian crystalline shields area of ancient igneous rock and carries little sediment. The river acts as a barrier so that some of the animals and plants on one bank are not found on the other.{{sfn|Sears}} The first base in the park is about {{convert|53|km|mi|0|abbr=on}} from Itaituba, and there is some illegal cutting of timber and gold mining in the eastern parts closest to Itaituba and Trairão.{{sfn|Parna da Amazônia – ISA|loc=Characteristics}}

To the west the park adjoins the {{convert|827877|ha}} Pau-Rosa National Forest, created in 2001.{{sfn|FLONA de Pau-Rosa – ISA|loc=Informações gerais (mapa)}}

The proposed South Amazon Ecological Corridor would link the park to other protected areas and indigenous territories in the region.{{sfn|Ayres|Da Fonseca |Rylands|Queiroz|2005|p=33}}

History

The Amazônia National Park was created by federal decree 73.683 of 19 February 1974.

Its limits were altered by decree on 18 January 1985.

The management plan was published on 31 December 1988, but was not made official at that time.

The consultative council was created on 26 November 2004.

The limits of the park were altered on 13 February 2006 and again on 12 August 2011.{{sfn|Parna da Amazônia – ISA|loc=Juridical Documents}}

Law 12678 of 25 June 2012 amended the limits of the Amazônia, Campos Amazônicos and Mapinguari national parks, the Itaituba I, Itaituba II and Crepori national forests and the Tapajós Environmental Protection Area.

All of these were reduced in size except the Campos Amazônicos.{{sfn|PARNA dos Campos Amazônicos – ISA|loc=Juridical Documents}}

This last alteration reduced the area of the park to {{convert|1,070,737|ha}}.{{sfn|Parna da Amazônia – ISA|loc=Juridical Documents}}

Flora and fauna

Except for about 2% of more open forest, the whole park consists of dense humid tropical forest. The larger trees reach a height of about {{convert|50|m|ft|-1|abbr=on}}, and the light filtering through the canopy is sufficient to produce a biodiverse understorey of vines, lichens, mosses and orchids.{{sfn|Parna da Amazônia – ISA|loc=Characteristics}} Many of the mammals in the park are nocturnal, and some such as the giant otter, Amazonian manatee and giant anteater are endangered. There are also large numbers of reptiles, fish and other aquatic creatures.{{sfn|Parna da Amazônia – ISA|loc=Characteristics}}

Visiting the park

The park can be reached from the city of Itaituba. The Transpantaneira runs from east to west through the park but does not really live up to its name. The road is paved as far as Itaituba but other parts are unpaved earth roads topped with gravel that deteriorate during the rainy season, November to April, and need much repair work each May and June.{{sfn|Branford|1980}}

The park can be accessed from Santarém, Pará, which is at the confluence of the Tapajós with the Amazon River. Santarém has an airport. Any roads usually require four-wheel-drive vehicles and river transport is normally used in this region.{{sfn|Waggoner|2014|loc=PT78}}

References

{{Reflist|30em}}

Sources

{{commons category|Parque Nacional da Amazônia}}

{{Wikivoyage|Amazônia National Park}}

{{refbegin}}

  • {{citation |url=http://www.britannica.com/place/Amazonia-National-Park|ref={{harvid|Amazonia National Park – Encyclopædia Britannica}}

|title=Amazonia National Park |work=Encyclopædia Britannica |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=9 October 2015}}

  • {{citation |language=pt |last1=Ayres |first1=José Márcio |first2=Gustavo A. B. |last2=Da Fonseca |first3=Anthony B. |last3=Rylands |first4=Helder L. |last4=Queiroz |first5=Luiz Paulo |last5=Pinto |first6=Donald |last6=Masterson |first7=Roberto B. |last7=Cavalcanti |title=Os Corredores Ecológicos das Florestas Tropicais do Brasil |year=2005 |publisher=Sociedade Civil Mamirauá |url=https://uc.socioambiental.org/sites/uc.socioambiental.org/files/Corredores%20Ecol%C3%B3gicos_PPG7_1997_0.pdf |access-date=2016-10-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160731063133/http://uc.socioambiental.org/sites/uc.socioambiental.org/files/Corredores%20Ecol%C3%B3gicos_PPG7_1997_0.pdf |archive-date=2016-07-31 |url-status=dead }}
  • {{citation |url=http://newint.org/features/1980/10/01/brazil/ |title=From Nothing to Nowhere: The Transamazonian Highway

|last=Branford |first=Sue |date=1 October 1980 |work=New Internationalist |access-date=9 October 2015}}

  • {{citation|ref={{harvid|FLONA de Pau-Rosa – ISA}}|language=pt

|title=FLONA de Pau-Rosa|publisher=ISA: Instituto Socioambiental

|url=https://uc.socioambiental.org/uc/4988|access-date=2016-10-29}}

  • {{cite web |url=http://uc.socioambiental.org/en/uc/481|ref={{harvid|Parna da Amazônia – ISA}}

|title=Parna da Amazônia |language=pt |publisher=ISA: Instituto Socioambiental |access-date=11 October 2015}}

  • {{citation|ref={{harvid|PARNA dos Campos Amazônicos – ISA}}|language=pt

|title=PARNA dos Campos Amazônicos|publisher=ISA: Instituto Socioambiental

|url=https://uc.socioambiental.org/uc/1482|access-date=2016-06-03}}

  • {{citation |url=http://www.worldwildlife.org/ecoregions/nt0135 |title=Central Amazonia in Brazil and parts of Bolivia

|last=Sears|first=Robin |publisher=WWF |access-date=9 October 2015}}

  • {{citation

|last=Waggoner|first=John |title=The Amazon of Brazil |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IZMecdOMATQC&pg=PT78

|year=2014|publisher=Hunter Publishing, Inc|isbn=978-1-58843-793-8 }}

{{refend}}

{{National park (Brazil)}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amazonia National Park}}

Category:National parks of Brazil

Category:Protected areas of Pará

Category:Protected areas established in 1974

Category:1974 establishments in Brazil