Chapada Diamantina National Park


The Chapada Diamantina National Park is a national park in the Chapada Diamantina region of the State of Bahia, Brazil.
The terrain is rugged, and mainly covered by flora of the Caatinga biome.

Location

The park is in the Caatinga biome, and covers.
It was created by decree 91.655 of 17 September 1985, and is administered by the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation.
The park covers parts of the municipalities of Palmeiras, Mucugê, Lençóis, Ibicoara and Andaraí in the state of Bahia.

Terrain

The park is in the Chapada Diamantina, a plateau bounded by cliffs of in central Bahia.
Altitudes in the plateau typically vary from.
In the more mountainous parts there are several peaks of, and a few over.
The plateau forms a watershed, draining on one side into the São Francisco River and on the other into the De Contas River and Paraguaçu River.
The park lies in the rugged Sincorá Range in the east of the plateau, an area of folded and heavily eroded structures. The range is elongated in a north-south direction, and has an average width of. The highest point of the state is in the park, the Pico do Barbado. Both gold and diamonds have been found in the range. The range forces moist air moving west from sea upward which causes higher levels of rainfall, particularly in the east. There are many systems of caves formed by the rivers of the region.

Flora and fauna

Vegetation includes typical Caatinga xerophytic formations at elevations from about, Atlantic Forest vegetation along the watercourses, meadows and rocky fields higher up. Endemic flora include Adamantinia miltonioides, Cattleya elongata, Cattleya tenuis, Cattleya x tenuata, Cleites libonni and Cleistes metallina. The hooded visorbearer hummingbird is endemic. There are few large mammals, but many species of small mammals, reptiles, amphibians, birds and insects.

Conservation

The park is classed as IUCN protected area category II. It has the objectives of preserving natural ecosystems of great ecological relevance and scenic beauty, enabling scientific research, environmental education, outdoors recreation and eco-tourism. Protected birds in the reserve include white-necked hawk, Chaco eagle, Bahia tyrannulet, ochre-marked parakeet and Bahia spinetail.
Other protected species include Barbara Brown's titi, cougar, jaguar, oncilla, giant armadillo and giant anteater.