Guaricana National Park, National park in Metropolitan Region of Curitiba, Brazil.
Guaricana National Park is a protected natural area in the Metropolitan Region of Curitiba that covers roughly 49,000 hectares of mountainous terrain. The landscape rises from lowlands at 100 meters to higher elevations reaching 1,680 meters, with diverse forest types distributed across these different altitude zones.
Brazil established this national park through presidential action in 2014 to protect dense tropical forests in the region. The creation reflected growing efforts to preserve remaining woodland areas from further habitat loss.
The park lies within a protected mosaic that also takes in indigenous lands and quilombola communities, the descendants of escaped enslaved Africans. About 90% of its area falls inside the Guaratuba State Environmental Protection Area, and forest remnants link it to Saint-Hilaire/Lange National Park. It is also part of the Lagamar Mosaic, the listed Serra do Mar area and the Atlantic Forest Biosphere Reserve.
The park lies between the BR-277 to the north and the BR-376 to the east, west of Saint-Hilaire/Lange National Park, with Guaratuba Bay to the southeast. It is not fully implemented and has no visitor infrastructure described in the sources. Rainfall averages 3,000 mm a year and temperatures range from 15 to 28 °C, so waterproof gear is needed at any time.
The park shelters top predators such as the jaguar and puma, alongside large herbivores like the tapir and white-lipped peccary. Around 90% of its area lies within the Guaratuba State Environmental Protection Area, and forest remnants link it to Saint-Hilaire/Lange National Park.
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