Bananal Ecological Station Explained

Bananal Ecological Station
Alt Name:Estação Ecológica de Bananal
Iucn Category:Ia
Map:Brazil
Relief:yes
Nearest City:Bananal, São Paulo
Coordinates:-22.7666°N -44.3341°W
Designation:Ecological station
Created:12 March 1987
Administrator:Instituto Florestal (SP)

The Bananal Ecological Station (Portuguese: Estação Ecológica de Bananal) is an Ecological station in the state of São Paulo, Brazil.

Location

The Bananal Ecological Station is in the municipality of Bananal, São Paulo.It has an area of .It is in a region of the Serra da Bocaina with sharp relief.Altitudes range from 1200to.It is part of the Bocaina Mosaic, created in 2006.Visitors must obtain permission from the station's management, who will assign an employee as a guide.There is a short trail to the last fall of the Sete Quedas waterfalls, a scenic attraction.

Environment

The climate is humid subtropical, with three dry months in the year.Average annual rainfall is 1250to.Average annual temperature is 20to.Maximum average temperature in 36to and minimum average temperature is 0to.The ecological station contains remnants of Atlantic Forest.Vegetation includes cloud forest and dense montane and submontane rainforest.Two new species of bromeliad have only been found in the station, Neoregelia pontuali and Wittrockia corallina.

History

The Bananal State Forest Reserve was created by state decree 43.193 of 3 April 1964 to conserve the forest and preserve the flora and fauna.On 12 March 1987 governor André Franco Montoro altered the category of the reserve to create the Bananal Ecological Station.The station is funded in partnership between the São Paulo secretariat of the environment and the German KfW bank.