Floresta do Jacarandá Environmental Protection Area

The Floresta do Jacarandá Environmental Protection Area (Portuguese: Área de Proteção Ambiental Floresta do Jacarandá) was an environmental protection area in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Floresta do Jacarandá Environmental Protection Area
Área de Proteção Ambiental Floresta do Jacarandá
IUCN category VI (protected area with sustainable use of natural resources)
Nearest city	Teresópolis, Rio de Janeiro
Coordinates	22.424326°S 42.924568°W / -22.424326; -42.924568
Area	2,700 hectares (6,700 acres)
Designation	Environmental protection area
Created	23 July 1985

Location

The Floresta do Jacarandá Environmental Protection Area (APA) was in the municipality of Teresópolis, Rio de Janeiro. It had an area of 2,700 hectares (6,700 acres).^[1] The area contains Atlantic Forest and sources of the Teresópolis water supply.^[2] A study published in 2001 noted that human activity had placed pressure on the environment in the W-NW of the reserve beside a slum along the BR-116 highway, and in the north where agricultural and tourist activities had expanded. The water was contaminated by fecal coliforms.^[3]

History

The Floresta do Jacarandá Environmental Protection Area was created by state decree 8.280 of 23 July 1985 as an Area of Environmental Protection and Permanent Preservation, with its forests, water sources and other forms of vegetation located in the place called Floresta do Jacarandá.^[4] The APA was included in the Central Rio de Janeiro Atlantic Forest Mosaic, created in 2006.^[5] On 31 October 2013 state law 6.573 extinguished the Paraíso Ecological Station and the Jacarandá State Environmental Protection Area, and modified the Bacia dos Frades Environmental Protection Area and the Três Picos State Park.^[6]