The Furnas do Bom Jesus State Park () is a

state park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "Federated state, state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on accou ...

in the state of

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

, Brazil. It protects an area of

cerrado The Cerrado () is a vast ecoregion of Tropics, tropical savanna in central Brazil, being present in the states of Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Tocantins, Maranhão, Piauí, Bahia, Minas Gerais, São Paulo (state), São Paulo, Paraná ...

and Atlantic Forest with high biodiversity in and around a canyon.

Location

The Furnas do Bom Jesus State Park is in the municipality of

Pedregulho Pedregulho is a municipality in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. The elevation of Pedregulho is . The population is 16,811 (2020 est.) in an area of 713 km2. The municipality contains the Furnas do Bom Jesus State Park, created in 1989. M ...

, São Paulo, from the state capital of

. The municipality is in the northeast of the state in the Ribeirão Preto mesoregion. It has an area of , and is in the hydrographic basin of the Córrego do Pedregulho. .The terrain consists of medium hills with flat tops and slopes with small canyons. The name ''Furnas do Bom Jesus'' means "Caves of the Good Jesus", after the Bom Jesus canyon which leads through the park. Altitudes range from .

History

The Furnas do Bom Jesus State Park was created by state decree 30.591 of 12 October 1989. Decree 31.644 of 31 May 1990 declared the land as being of social interest for the purpose of expropriation. The park is a fully protected conservation unit with the objectives of preserving its ecosystems, geomorphological sites and natural landscapes, while supporting scientific research and public visits. Various universities use the park for scientific research, including the

University of São Paulo The Universidade de São Paulo (, USP) is a public research university in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, and the largest public university in Brazil. The university was founded on 25 January 1934, regrouping already existing schools in ...

Environment

The

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

is Cwb Tropical Altitude, hot and humid in summer, cold and dry in winter. Temperatures vary from in the summer and in the winter, with average annual temperature from . The park protects an area with great biodiversity of native flora and fauna, including some species threatened with extinction. Vegetation includes fragments of

and Atlantic Forest seasonal semi-deciduous forest. There are cerradões, cerrado and meadows in the interfluvial areas, continuous gallery forest in the valley bottoms, including seasonal semi-deciduous forest and seasonal alluvial semi-deciduous forest, and seasonal deciduous forest on the slopes and walls of the canyons, particularly in places where there is the least water in the dry season. The natural cerrado vegetation on the top of the chapadas and the gentler slopes was almost entirely replaced by coffee plantations and pasturage, and is now regenerating. The areas that are harder to access have been little changed, preserving remnants of the original forest. There are marshes, flooded meadows, high meadows and remnants of Atlantic forest, but the most common forms are typical cerrado, cerradão and asveredas. There are many species of trees, grasses, bromeliads, orchids and other small plants. The cerrado has been drastically modified by humans. Notable species of flora include ''ipe'' (

Tabebuia ''Tabebuia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the Family (biology), family Bignoniaceae.Eberhard Fischer, Inge Theisen, and Lúcia G. Lohmann. 2004. "Bignoniaceae". pages 9-38. In: Klaus Kubitzki (editor) and Joachim W. Kadereit (volume editor) ...

species),'' jacaranda'' ('' Jacaranda cuspidifolia''), ''jequitibá'' ('' Cariniana estrellensis''), ''açoita-cavalo'' (

Luehea ''Luehea'' is a genus of trees in the family Malvaceae. Its native range stretches from Mexico to southern tropical America and Cuba. It is native to the countries of; Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El S ...

species) and ''peroba'' (

Aspidosperma ''Aspidosperma'' is a genus of flowering plant in the Dogbane family (biology), family (Apocynaceae), first described as a genus in 1824. It is native to South America, Central America, southern Mexico, and the West Indies. One Central American ...

species). Fauna includes species such as armadillo (

Dasypus ''Dasypus'' is the only extant genus in the family Dasypodidae. Its species are known as long-nosed or naked-tailed armadillos. They are found in South America, South, Central America, Central, and North America, as well as on the Caribbean islan ...

species),

southern tamandua The southern tamandua (''Tamandua tetradactyla''), also called the collared anteater or lesser anteater, is a species of anteater from South America and the island of Trinidad in the Caribbean. It is a solitary animal found in many habitats, from ...

(Tamandua tetradactyla) and the threatened

Ocelot The ocelot (''Leopardus pardalis'') is a medium-sized spotted Felidae, wild cat that reaches at the shoulders and weighs between on average. It is native to the southwestern United States, Mexico, Central America, Central and South America, ...

(Leopardus pardalis) and

cougar The cougar (''Puma concolor'') (, ''Help:Pronunciation respelling key, KOO-gər''), also called puma, mountain lion, catamount and panther is a large small cat native to the Americas. It inhabits North America, North, Central America, Cent ...

(Puma concolor).

Visiting

Pequena cachoeira no Parque Estadual Furnas do Bom Jesus em 2012

Visitors are attracted by the natural beauty of the forests and waterfalls. There are viewpoints in the Santa Luzia and Taquari centers. The highlight is the Cascata Grande, the largest waterfall in the park with a free fall of . The administrative headquarters of the park are in the Santa Luzia Center. There are several trails leading through the park:

Notes

Sources

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Furnas do Bom Jesus State Park State parks of Brazil Protected areas established in 1989 1989 establishments in Brazil Protected areas of São Paulo (state)