The Juatinga Ecological Reserve ( pt, Reserva Ecológica Estadual da Juatinga) is an ecological reserve in the state of

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of the same name, Brazil's List of Brazilian states by population, third-most populous state, and the List of largest citi ...

, Brazil. It protects a rugged peninsula projecting into the Atlantic Ocern that is mainly covered by

Atlantic Forest The Atlantic Forest ( pt, Mata Atlântica) is a South American forest that extends along the Atlantic coast of Brazil from Rio Grande do Norte state in the northeast to Rio Grande do Sul state in the south and inland as far as Paraguay and t ...

, and also helps maintain the traditional lifestyle of residents of small villages along the coast.

Location

The Juatinga Ecological Reserve is in the municipality of

Paraty Paraty (or Parati, ) is a preserved Portuguese colonial (1500–1822) and Brazilian Imperial (1822–1889) municipality with a population of about 43,000. Indeed, the name "Paraty" originates from the local Guaianá Indians' Indigenous Tupi l ...

, Rio de Janeiro. It has an area of . It is contained within the

Cairuçu Environmental Protection Area Cairuçu Environmental Protection Area ( pt, Área de Proteção Ambiental de Cairuçu) is a protected area in the south of Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil. It contains an important remnant of the Atlantic Forest biome. Location Cairuçu Environment ...

. The reserve is part of the Atlantic Forest Biosphere Reserve. The reserve protects a peninsula in the extreme east of the municipality that projects into the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Afr ...

. The Juatinga peninsula is in the northern Ribeira belt. The reserve has rugged terrain, located where the

Serra do Mar The Serra do Mar (, Portuguese for ''Sea's Ridge'' or ''Sea Ridge'') is a 1,500 km long system of mountain ranges and escarpments in Southeastern Brazil. Geography The Serra do Mar runs parallel to the Atlantic Ocean coast from the state ...

meets the coastal plain, with elevations that range from sea level to over . It has granitoid rocks from the

Proterozoic The Proterozoic () is a geological eon spanning the time interval from 2500 to 538.8million years ago. It is the most recent part of the Precambrian "supereon". It is also the longest eon of the Earth's geologic time scale, and it is subdivided ...

and sediments from the

Cenozoic The Cenozoic ( ; ) is Earth's current geological era, representing the last 66million years of Earth's history. It is characterised by the dominance of mammals, birds and flowering plants, a cooling and drying climate, and the current configu ...

. The most common type of soil is ''Háplico''

cambisol A Cambisol in the World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB) is a soil in the beginning of soil formation. The horizon The horizon is the apparent line that separates the surface of a celestial body from its sky when viewed from the pers ...

, and there is also red-yellow latosol and humic cambisol.

History

The reserve is in area where there has been intense pressure on the land from speculators and squatters. The Juatinga Ecological Reserve was created by state decree 17.981 of 30 October 1992. It is home to about 400 families, or 2,000 people, living in basic conditions in small coastal villages. It was created to promote the caiçaras culture of the residents of the reserve, reconciling their life style with conservation of the environment.

Environment

The region has a tropical humid climate with a distinct rainy season. Annual rainfall ranges from . The Juatinga Ecological Reserve protects submontane and montane tropical rainforest,

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in several ...

s and

restinga Restingas () are a distinct type of coastal tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forest in eastern Brazil. They form on sandy, acidic, and nutrient-poor soils, and are characterized by medium-sized trees and shrubs adapted to the drier and nut ...

. Vegetation is mainly dense rainforest. Some areas contain vegetation in different stages of succession, including agricultural fields, scrub and secondary growth. A 2014 study of the ''Laranjeiras-Praia do Sono'' and ''Praia do Sono-Praia de Antigos'' trails in the south of the reserve found that one of the trails was somewhat degraded, and had ravine erosions in several places. The primary rainforest at higher elevations protects threatened species such as the southern muriqui (''Brachyteles arachnoides'') and the

jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the thi ...

(''Panthera onca''). The State Environmental Institute (INEA) arranged a weekend bird watching event in the reserve in August 2016 to raise environmental awareness. About twenty participants recorded 106 bird species.

Notes

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Juatinga Ecological Reserve Ecological reserves of Brazil Protected areas established in 1992 1992 establishments in Brazil Protected areas of Rio de Janeiro (state)