The Sossego Forest Biological Station () is a private natural heritage reserve in the state of

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil, being the fourth largest state by area and the second largest in number of inhabitants with a population of 20,539,989 according to the 2022 Brazilian census, 2022 census. Located in ...

, Brazil. It holds a population of the critically endangered

northern muriqui The northern muriqui (''Brachyteles hypoxanthus)'' is one of two species of muriqui. They are also known as woolly spider monkey because they exhibit the woollen pelt of woolly monkeys and the long prehensile tail of spider monkeys. Muriquis are ...

, a primate.

Location

The Sossego Forest Biological Station is in the municipalities of Simonésia and

Manhuaçu Manhuaçu is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in Eastern Minas Gerais state, in Brazil. Its population was 91,169 (2020) and its area is 628 km2. Geography Located 260 km from the state capital of Belo Horizonte, it is near the impo ...

, Minas Gerais. It has an area of . When the buffer zone is included, the total forest area is . The Mata do Sossego is from

Belo Horizonte Belo Horizonte is the List of largest cities in Brazil, sixth-largest city in Brazil, with a population of around 2.3 million, and the third largest metropolitan area, containing a population of 6 million. It is the List of cities in Sout ...

. It holds the largest continuous remnant of Atlantic Forest in the region. The advance of coffee plantations and pastures in the region is further fragmenting the forest and reducing its area.

History

The Sossego Forest Biological Station was created by ordinance 20-N DOU 34 of 18 February 1998, the property of the Fundação Biodiversitas (Biodiversity Foundation). The management plan was approved by the

Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation The Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation ( Portuguese: ''Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade'', ICMBio) is a government agency under the administration of the Brazilian Ministry of the Environment. It is nam ...

(ICMBio) on 7 January 2015.

Conservation activities

The main purpose is to help preserve the critically endangered

(''Brachyteles hypoxanthus''), the largest primate in the Americas. It is estimated that between 700 and 1,000 Northern muriquis live in the Atlantic Forest remnants in Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo, with confirmed populations in just ten forest fragments in Minas Gerais. Other endangered species include the

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'') and

black-fronted titi The black-fronted titi monkey (''Callicebus nigrifrons'') is a species of titi, a type of New World monkey. The black-fronted titi is a small diurnal primate. The body of this primate is covered in grey to brown fur with black fur concentrated ...

(''Callicebus nigrifrons''). The plants ''

Cariniana legalis ''Cariniana legalis'' is a species of emergent rainforest tree in the Monkeypot family Lecythidaceae. It is found in the Atlantic forest of south-eastern Brazil, where is known as jequitibá-branco or jequitibá-rosa, and possibly found in Co ...

'' and '' Dicksonia sellowiana'' are also endangered. The station is a center for scientific studies in the area, and may become part of an ecological corridor with the Feliciano Miguel Abdala Private Natural Heritage Reserve in

Caratinga Caratinga is a Municipalities of Brazil, Brazilian municipality located in the countryside of the States of Brazil, state of Minas Gerais in the Southeast Region, Brazil, Southeast Region of Brazil. Situated in the Vale do Rio Doce (mesoregion), V ...

. The RPPN has infrastructure for visitors and researchers, and has potential for biological, ecological and sociological research. The organizers have undertaken environmental education and organization in the nearby communities, leading to creation of the Association of Friends of Protection of the Simonésia Forests. They have encouraged development of more sustainable agricultural practices. The Biodiversity Foundation has partnered with the Doces Matas Project, along with the managers of the nearby

Caparaó National Park Caparaó National Park () is a national park created in 1961 to protect the Caparaó Mountains, located on the border between Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo states in Brazil. Pico da Bandeira, one of the highest mountains in Brazil Braz ...

and

Rio Doce State Park The Rio Doce State Park () is a State park (Brazil), state park in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. It protects a large remnant of Atlantic Forest, and includes a system of lagoons rich in species of native fish. Location The Rio Doce State Pa ...

Notes

Sources

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sossego Forest Biological Station Private natural heritage reserves of Brazil Protected areas established in 1998 1998 establishments in Brazil Protected areas of Minas Gerais