The Tijuca National Park () is an urban

national park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

in the mountains of the city of

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, Brazil. The park is part of the Atlantic Forest Biosphere Preserve, and is administered by the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio). The area is composed of secondary

vegetation Vegetation is an assemblage of plants and the ground cover they provide. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular Taxon, taxa, life forms, structure, Spatial ecology, spatial extent, or any other specific Botany, botanic ...

, as it is the result of

reforestation Reforestation is the practice of restoring previously existing forests and woodlands that have been destroyed or damaged. The prior forest destruction might have happened through deforestation, clearcutting or wildfires. Three important purpose ...

carried out during the Second Empire, when it became clear that

deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal and destruction of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. Ab ...

caused by

coffee Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially a ...

farms A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used fo ...

was harming the drinking

water Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...

supply of the then capital of the

Empire An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...

. More than 230

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of animals and birds live in the park, including capuchin monkeys, coatis, agoutis, wild dogs, marmosets,

hummingbirds Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and comprise the Family (biology), biological family Trochilidae. With approximately 366 species and 113 genus, genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but most species are found in Cen ...

and thrushes.

History

The contemporary Tijuca National Park and its surrounding forests are largely the result of

. In the 1700s, forests in the future park around

were cleared for fuel, coffee growing, and livestock. The small streams in the former forest were a significant source of the city's water supply, and, with variable rainfall, the city began to experience water shortages and

flash flood A flash flood is a rapid flooding of low-lying areas: washes, rivers, dry lakes and depressions. It may be caused by heavy rain associated with a severe thunderstorm, hurricane, or tropical storm, or by meltwater from ice and snow. Flash f ...

s. Emperor Pedro II of Brazil established federal control over the area in 1861, and efforts began to restore the former forest on the bare slopes and abandoned fields. The re-planting of trees was carried out by 6 enslaved persons. Their names were Eleutério, Constantino, Manuel, Mateus, Leopoldo, and Maria. These people were enslaved by the Portuguese government and under the supervision of the Tijuca Forest manager Major Manuel Gomes Archer. They planted over 100,000 trees from 1861 to 1887. Around this time, a cog railway was built to carry passengers to the top of Corcovado, and between 1922 and 1931 the famous statue '' Christ the Redeemer'' was built. In 1961, Tijuca Forest was declared a

, and in 2011, the Carioca Mosaic was established, including the park. In 2012,

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

designated the landscapes around Rio de Janeiro, including the park, as a

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

Geography

Tijuca National Park is claimed to be the world's largest urban forest, covering some , although this title is disputed with

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. The park shares its name with the ''

bairro A ''bairro'' () is a Portuguese language, Portuguese word for a Quarter (urban subdivision), quarter or a neighborhood or, sometimes, a district which is within a city or town. It is commonly used in Portugal, Brazil, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, ...

s'' (neighborhoods) of

Tijuca Tijuca () (meaning marsh or swamp in the Tupi language, from ''ty'' ("water") and ''îuk'' ("rotten")) is a neighbourhood of the Rio de Janeiro#North Zone, Northern Zone of the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It comprises the region of Saens P ...

and

Barra da Tijuca Barra da Tijuca () (usually known as Barra) is an upper-middle class neighborhood or bairro in the Rio de Janeiro#West Zone, West Zone of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, located in the western portion of the city on the Atlantic Ocean. Barra is well known ...

nearby. The word ''Tijuca'' comes from the

Tupi language Old Tupi, Ancient Tupi or Classical Tupi () is a classical Tupian language which was spoken by the indigenous Tupi people of Brazil, mostly those who inhabited coastal regions in South and Southeast Brazil. In the words of Brazilian tupinol ...

and means ''marsh'', a reference to the Tijuca Lagoon in the contemporary Barra da Tijuca. It is located in a mountainous region which encompasses the Tijuca Massif. Among its impressive peaks are the Pedra da Gávea, Corcovado and Pico da Tijuca. The forest and mountains form a natural boundary that separates the West Zone of Rio from the rest of the city, as well as dividing the North and South Zones. One

favela Favela () is an umbrella name for several types of impoverished neighborhoods in Brazil. The term, which means slum or ghetto, was first used in the Slum of Providência in the center of Rio de Janeiro in the late 19th century, which was b ...

exists in the Tijuca Forest, called Mata Machado. Its inhabitants are mainly the descendants of those who migrated to the region in the 1930s to take part in the replanting effort. Though conditions have improved recently under the Favela-Bairro Project, it still contributes to

environmental degradation Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, referring respectively to all living and non-living things occurring naturally and the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism ...

in the forest. Ecology The Forest is home to hundreds of species of

plants Plants are the eukaryotes that form the kingdom Plantae; they are predominantly photosynthetic. This means that they obtain their energy from sunlight, using chloroplasts derived from endosymbiosis with cyanobacteria to produce sugars f ...

and

wildlife Wildlife refers to domestication, undomesticated animals and uncultivated plant species which can exist in their natural habitat, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wilderness, wild in an area without being species, introdu ...

, many threatened by

extinction Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

, and found only in the Atlantic Forest

biome A biome () is a distinct geographical region with specific climate, vegetation, and animal life. It consists of a biological community that has formed in response to its physical environment and regional climate. In 1935, Tansley added the ...

. The vegetation is so dense that scientists have estimated that ambient temperatures in surrounding areas have been lowered by up to 9 °C. The forest also contains some 30 waterfalls. Due to the reforestation efforts of the late 19th century, about half of the area of a park is a mix of about 30 native tree species and ten

introduced species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived ther ...

. It is currently threatened by frequent, accidental fires set by humans, a problem compounded by colonization by more flammable grasses displacing native vegetation.

Tourism

Given its proximity to the city, the park receives heavy use: in 2016, the park received 3,305,010 visitors. The park contains a number of attractions, most famously the colossal sculpture of '' Christ the Redeemer''. Other attractions include the Cascatinha Waterfall; the Mayrink Chapel, with murals painted by Cândido Portinari; the pagoda-style gazebo at Vista Chinesa; and a giant

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

table called the ''Mesa do Imperador'' ("Emperor's Table"). There are numerous

hiking A hike is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century. Long hikes as part of a religious pilgrimage have existed for a much longer time. "Hi ...

trails. Common destinations are: Diamantina's waterfall, Parrot's Beak (Bico do Papagaio), Tijuca's Peak (Pico da Tijuca), Cave Circuit (Circuito das Grutas), Archer's Hill (Morro do Archer), Anhanguera's Hill (Morro da Anhanguera), the Excelsior Lookout (Mirante do Excelsior) and the Bat's Cave (Caverna dos Morcegos).

Notes

Sources

External links