General information
The Rio Vermelho State Park (in Portuguese: Parque Estadual do Rio Vermelho) is a full protection conservation unit established in 2007. It is located in the municipality of Florianópolis, in the northeast of Santa Catarina Island, between Moçambique Beach (12.5 km long) to the east, and Lagoa da Conceição to the west, covering an area of 1,532 hectares.
The Rio Vermelho State Park aims to preserve samples of Dense Ombrophilous Forest (Atlantic Forest), Pioneer Formations (Restinga Vegetation), and associated fauna of the Atlantic Forest domain. It also aims to maintain the balance of the region’s water complex, promote orderly actions for the recovery of its altered ecosystems, and provide for scientific research and public visitation with the development of environmental education and interpretation activities, recreation in contact with nature, and ecotourism.
Public visitation to the Park is free on the trails and accesses to Moçambique Beach and Lagoa da Conceição. Visitors can also stay at the Rio Vermelho Camping site, hike along the Ecological Trail or the Aquatic Trail, or participate in some of the environmental education activities or nature events held in the Park.
When to visit
The Rio Vermelho State Park is not completely open to visitation. There are a seedling nursery and couple of trails that can be visited, along which flora and fauna observation can be carried out.
For specific opening hours for visitation, please check the section WHAT TO DO.
Ticket and price
The Rio Vermelho State Park is free to visit, but some attractions such as the Ecological Trail require ticket, the price is 15 reais for international visitors.
What to do in Rio Vermelho State Park
Seedling Nursery
Since its creation, the Park has had a nursery for seedling production, initially located next to the Environmental Military Police Battalion, and intended for the production of seedlings of exotic tree species. Over time, with changes in the Park’s objectives, the nursery began producing native species from the Park’s ecosystems. Currently, the nursery is located next to the Rio Vermelho Camping site, available for environmental education activities, with prior scheduling, visits from the general public, and donation of seedlings to visitors and socio-environmental projects, subject to seedling availability.
Opening hours: Monday to Friday from 12-5pm
How to arrive: click here to check in google map
Ecological Trail
The Ecological Trail of the park is a guided trail where visitors can learn about some of the wild animals treated at the Wildlife Screening Center (CETAS).
The operating hours are from Tuesday to Sunday, from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. Departures occur every 30 minutes, with the first one at 9:30 am and the last one at 4:00 pm. The trail lasts approximately 50 minutes, with most of the route on a wooden deck.
Ticket prices: R$ 15.00 (general public) and R$ 7.50 (students, seniors, and residents of the surrounding area). Children up to 5 years old, accompanied by a paying adult, as well as students from public schools in the vicinity of the park, teachers, and group leaders of students are exempt from payment.
Email for school and group scheduling:
Long Distance Trail of island
The section of the Long Distance Trail of the island of Santa Catarina – CAISCA, which passes through the interior of the Rio Vermelho State Park, connects the different ecosystems of the Park, starting from the south near Barra da Lagoa (lagoon inlet), close to the Tamar Project, passing through the sandbank environments, passing near Lagoa da Conceição (concecao lagoon), and returning to the restinga environments, traversing dunes, Praia do Moçambique (Mocambique beach), all the way to the extreme north at Canto das Aranhas, highlighting the environmental, historical, and cultural heritage of the Park and its surroundings, totaling 18km.
The trail signage follows the methodology of the REDE Trilhas, which was regulated in the official manual of ICMBio and follows the best international practices, having been praised by experts from the World Trails Network as the best model in use worldwide. It uses yellow footsteps on a black background in the north direction and black footsteps on a yellow background in the reverse direction.
The route of the section of the Long Distance Trail in the Rio Vermelho State Park in the figure below.
Although the entire route is 18km, the trail can be done in sections, according to the hiker’s desire. Most of the sections can also be done by bicycle, although on the dunes, bicycles suitable for riding on sand are necessary.
Infrastructures to support tourism
The Rio Vermelho State Park hosts institutions and has established structures predating its designation as a State Park, with the Decree creating the Conservation Unit ensuring that “the current legal uses of the Rio Vermelho State Park area are guaranteed until its Management Plan is developed and approved.”
These institutions and structures include:
- Camping site of the Association of Cabos and Soldiers of the Military Police and Firefighters of Santa Catarina;
- Paulo dos Reis Scout Camp, administered by the Union of Scouts of Brazil;
- Camping site of the Rio Vermelho State Park, administered by IMA and partners;
- 1st Battalion of the 1st Platoon of the 1st Company of the Environmental Military Police – BPMA;
- Wildlife Screening Center (CETAS);
- Marine CETAS of the Beach Monitoring Project (PMP);
- Sewage Treatment Plant (ETE) of the Santa Catarina Water and Sanitation Company (CASAN);
- Luiz Osvaldo D’Acampora Filho Lake Terminal, administered by the Cooperative of Boatmen of Costa da Lagoa (COOPERCOSTA);
- Barra da Lagoa Fire Station.
Facts about Rio Vermelho State Park
History
In the 1950s, the area of Rio Vermelho State Park was already a degraded sandbank, used for agriculture, grazing, and firewood collection, and subject to periodic fires (Berenhauser, 1963). In 1962, this area was defined as the Rio Vermelho Forest Station, under the jurisdiction of the State Department of Agriculture, and destined for the experimentation of various Pinus species and the verification of the best development indices of specimens adaptable to the Santa Catarina region. Therefore, reforestation plantations were initiated in the area in 1963, largely with exotic species, mainly Pinus elliottii and taeda, and species of Eucalyptus, which were carried out, at no cost to the State, by the Rural Association of Florianópolis, under the coordination of Henrique Berenhauser, as per the agreement signed in February 1963, with labor from the State Penitentiary.
According to records made by Berenhauser, afforestation of 700 hectares was carried out in the Park area over 12 years, starting with the planting of Pinus from various origins such as Pinus bahamensis from the Bahamas, Pinus insularis from the Philippines, Pinus canariensis and insignis sent by the Forestry Service of Spain, maritime pine from Portugal, genetically improved Pinus elliottii from a cellulose industry at the University of Florida and the Forestry Service of Florida, a collection of native conifer seeds from Formosa Island in the Pacific sent by the Forestry Service of Formosa, Pinus hondurensis sent by the Forestry Service of Queensland – Australia, Pinus taeda harvested near the city of Tampa and sent by the Forestry Service of Florida, collections of Pinus elliottii origins, and Pinus luchuensis seeds from Okinawa Island. Plantations of Acacia trinervis, Canavalia maritima, Casuarina equisetifolia, and Sophora tomentosa, among other species, were made in the dune areas along Moçambique Beach.
The agreement with the Rural Association ended in 1974, the year when it changed the name of the area to Rio Vermelho Forest Park and expanded its objectives beyond silvicultural activities, including nature conservation and public use for tourism, leisure, and scouting. The area remained under the jurisdiction of the State Department of Agriculture, which delegated its administration to the Integrated Agricultural Development Company of Santa Catarina (CIDASC), remaining so until 2007.
With the creation of the National System of Conservation Units, protected areas in the country that were not classified under the categories created by this law were to be reassessed. The process of reclassifying the Rio Vermelho Forest Park into a State Park began in the late 1990s, motivated by criticisms from environmental organizations in the region regarding environmental degradation actions in the area, especially in the restingas and dunes near Morro das Aranhas, and by the recognition of the ecological importance of the area by a research group from the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC). In 2003, the State Government created an Interinstitutional Technical Team to discuss the classification of the area under the SNUC.
After several meetings, technical studies, and public discussions, State Decree No. 308 was published on 05/24/2007, creating the Rio Vermelho State Park.
Flora
The State Park of Rio Vermelho has 67% of its area occupied by natural ecosystems such as sandbanks (44.6%), Dense Ombrophilous Forest (9.9%), dunes (5.4%), wetland vegetation (4.3%), and bodies of water (3.2%) (see table below). It also has areas with altered ecosystems, such as the reforestation of American pine (Pinus spp) and eucalyptus (Eucalyptus spp), which occupy 30.2% of the Park (see table below) and will be the target of ordered recovery actions, as provided for in the Park’s creation objectives.
The diversity of native flora species found in the State Park of Rio Vermelho is due to the different environments within its area and its surroundings, such as beach, lagoon, dunes, wetlands, and hills. These different environmental conditions have led to various vegetation formations: herbaceous and sub-shrub sandbanks on the dunes in front of the beach, shrubby and arboreal sandbanks on dunes further away from the beach (semi-fixed and fixed dunes), and in the plains, typical vegetation of lagoons, wetlands, lowlands, and the Dense Ombrophilous Forest on Morro dos Macacos.
On the frontal dunes, which border Moçambique Beach, species of plants typical of sandbanks are found, adapted to conditions of full sun exposure, sandy soil, salinity, and movement due to tidal variation. They are generally crawling and climbing herbaceous species such as beach morning glory (Ipomoea pes-caprae), pennywort (Hydrocotyle bonariensis), beach bean (Canavalia rosea), beach star rush (Cyperus pedunculatus), shore purslane (Sesuvium portulacastrum), sarsaparilla (Smilax campestris), but also shrubs such as beach sophora (Sophora tomentosa) and beach naupaka (Scaevola plumieri).
In the inner dunes (semi-fixed and fixed), as they move away from the beach, shrubby and arboreal species of sandbanks occur, such as beach wood (Dalbergia ecastaphyllum), hopbush (Dodonaea viscosa), Brazilian pepper tree (Schinus terebinthifolius), beach guabiroba (Campomanesia littoralis), Guapira tree (Guapira opposita), Surinam cherry (Eugenia uniflora), among others.
In the arboreal sandbank, where the vegetation is denser and taller, the soil is shadier and has more litter, and where epiphytes (plants that attach to trees) are more common, species of the Myrtaceae family (the same as the Surinam cherry, jabuticaba) are commonly found, such as cherry guava (Psidium cattleianum), guamirim (Myrcia palustris), cambuí (Myrciaria tenella), and others such as ant plant (Clusia criuva), capororocas (Myrsine spp), cinnamon (Ocotea pulchella), queen palm (Syagrus romanzoffiana), and bromeliads such as pineapple (Bromelia antiacantha), Aechmea lindenii, Aechmea nudicaulis, Nidularium innocentii, among others.
The occurrence of typical wetland and lowland vegetation is more common in the western part of the Park, in areas of the plain formed by the deposition of lagoon sediments from ancient lagoons, but also in depressions of the dunes. In these places, the water table level is very close to the surface or even exposed, and some species adapted to these conditions include rush (Juncus marginatus), cattail (Typha domingensis), and serrated fern (Blechnum serrulatum). In the wet areas bordering Lagoa da Conceição, bullrush (Cladium mariscus) and grasses such as dense-flowered cordgrass (Spartina densiflora) occur.
Morro dos Macacos, approximately 300 meters high, has Dense Ombrophilous Forest vegetation, where species occur in three forest layers (herbaceous, shrubby, and arboreal), as well as epiphytes. Some palms and tree species found in this area include queen palm (Syagrus romanzoffiana), cabralea (Cabralea canjerana), acai palm (Euterpe edulis), red-bead tree (Ormosia arborea), camboatá (Cupania vernalis), Brazilian pepper tree (Zanthoxylum rhoifolium), and cedar (Cedrela fissilis). Some bromeliads and epiphytes found include Gardner’s airplant (Tillandsia gardneri), strict airplant (Tillandsia stricta), Balansa’s bromeliad (Bromelia balansae), and chain cactus (Rhipsalis teres).
In the Park, there is an endemic plant, meaning it only exists in this area, the cat’s claw (Mimosa catharinensis), as well as some endangered species such as cedar (Cedrela fissilis) and acai palm (Euterpe edulis).
A major challenge for the conservation of the Park’s ecosystems is the removal of exotic species, which account for 77%, present in both the reforestation of American pine (Pinus spp) and eucalyptus (Eucalyptus spp) and scattered throughout the Park. Beefwood trees (Casuarina equisetifolia) and Brachylaena discolor individuals occupy the frontal dunes of Moçambique Beach, tussocks of brachiaria grass (Urochloa spp) are found in open areas with heavy vehicle, human, and domestic animal traffic, and various species have been planted around the buildings in the Park.
In the following photos: beach morning glory (Ipomoea pes-caprae) and Ipomoea imperati.
Fauna
Recent fauna surveys recorded the occurrence of 140 bird species in the Rio Vermelho State Park. This diversity of birds is due to the variation of environments, located both at sea level, such as sandbanks and lowland forests, and in the higher parts of Morro dos Macacos and the other mountains surrounding Lagoa da Conceição.
On Morro dos Macacos, the area of the park with the greatest diversity of birds, some species that are indicators of good environmental quality occur, such as the Great Tinamou (Crypturellus obsoletus), Short-tailed Hawk (Buteo brachyurus), Ruddy Quail-Dove (Geotrygon montana), Channel-billed Toucan (Ramphastos vitellinus), Indigo-capped Tapaculo (Eleoscytalopus indigoticus), among others.
In areas with reforestation of American pine and eucalyptus with native understory vegetation, bird species that tolerate alterations in forest habitat occur, such as the Azure Jay (Cyanocorax caeruleus), Glittering-throated Emerald (Amazilia fimbriata), Variable Antshrike (Thamnophilus caerulescens), Rufous-browed Peppershrike (Cyclarhis gujanensis), Rufous-bellied Thrush (Turdus rufiventris), Gray-headed Tanager (Eucometis penicillata), Ruby-crowned Tanager (Tachyphonus coronatus), Buff-throated Saltator (Saltator maximus), among others. In these areas, there is also the Mantled Hawk (Amadonastur lacernulatus), an endemic and endangered bird of the Atlantic Forest.
In well-preserved arboreal sandbank areas of the park, bird species such as the Scaled Chachalaca (Ortalis squamata), Scale-throated Hermit (Phaethornis eurynome), Blond-crested Woodpecker (Celeus flavescens), Plain-winged Woodcreeper (Dendrocincla turdina), Plain Xenops (Xenops minutus), Greenish Schiffornis (Schiffornis virescens), Short-tailed Pygmy Tyrant (Myiornis auricularis), Peruvian Tanager (Tangara peruviana), Burnished-buff Tanager (Tangara cayana), and Rufous-headed Tanager (Hemithraupis ruficapilla) occur.
In the wetlands of the park, typical birds of marshes (floodplains) and lagoons occur, such as the Brazilian Teal (Amazonetta brasiliensis), Little Blue Heron (Egretta caerulea), Wattled Jacana (Jacana jacana), Slaty-breasted Wood Rail (Aramides saracura), Rufous-sided Crake (Laterallus melanophaius), Ash-throated Crake (Mustelirallus albicollis), Blackish Rail (Pardirallus nigricans), Kingfishers (Megaceryle torquata and Chloroceryle spp.), Wren-like Rushbird (Phleocryptes melanops), Spix’s Spinetail (Synallaxis spixi), Masked Yellowthroat (Geothlypis aequinoctialis), among others.
In the herbaceous and shrubby sandbanks, typical bird species of these ecosystems occur, such as the Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia), Common Pauraque (Nyctidromus albicollis), Nacunda Nighthawk (Podager nacunda), Campo Flicker (Colaptes campestris), Chalk-browed Mockingbird (Mimus saturninus), Yellowish Pipit (Anthus lutescens), Rufous-collared Sparrow (Zonotrichia capensis), Grassland Sparrow (Ammodramus humeralis), among others.
In the immediate surroundings of the park, on the sandy strip of Moçambique Beach, a large number of shorebirds, coastal, and marine birds are observed, such as American Golden Plover (Pluvialis dominica and P. squatarola), American Oystercatcher (Haematopus palliatus), Black Skimmer (Rynchops niger), Collared Plover (Charadrius collaris), South American Tern (Sterna hirundinacea), South American Gull-billed Tern (Thalasseus acuflavidus), Masked Booby (Sula leucogaster), among others.
Some reptiles found in the park are Striped Forest Racer (Siphlophis pulcher), Tree Snake (Chironius exoletus), Jararaca (Bothrops jararaca), Jararacuçu (Bothrops jararacussu) (on Morro dos Macacos), Sand Dune Lizard (Liolaemus occipitalis) – a species threatened with extinction, Argentine Black and White Tegu (Salvator merianae), Red-eared Slider (Trachemys scripta), and Sleepy Snake (Sybinomorphus neuwiedii).
Some amphibians that occur in the park, especially on Morro dos Macacos, as some species depend on forested and humid environments, are leaf litter frogs (Ischnocnema cf. guentheri, Ischnocnema henselli, Ischnocnema manezinho) and the treefrog (Bokermannohyla hylax), while others are found in the plain such as Dwarf Treefrog (Dendropsophus minutus), Werner’s Treefrog (Dendropsophus werneri), Cuvier’s Dwarf Frog (Physalaemus cuvieri), and Little Tree Toad (Rhinella abei). The Manezinho Leaf Litter Frog (Ischnocnema manezinho) is a species found in the park that is endemic to the municipality of Florianópolis and the adjacent coastal region.
Some mammal species found in the park are the Big-eared Opossum (Didelphis aurita), Paraguayan Red Brocket (Micooureus paraguayanus), Nine-banded Armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus), Crab-eating Fox (Cerdocyon thous), Crab-eating Raccoon (Procyon cancrivorus), Coypu (Myocastor coypus), various species of bats (Artibeus fimbriatus, A. lituratus, Carollia perspicillata, Chiroderma doriae, Desmodus rotundus, Diphylla ecaudata, Glossophaga soricina, Sturnira lilium, Eptesicus brasiliensis, Myotis cf. riparius).
In the Rio Vermelho, near the source, where the flow is low and the bedrock is formed by sand and gravel with deposition of organic matter, some fish species found are Least Killifish (Phalloceros cf. pellos), Swamp Eel (Synbranchus marmoratus), Trahira (Hoplias malabaricus), and Eartheater (Geophagus brasiliensis). In the small streams and drainage channels of the park, fish species such as Swamp Eel (Synbranchus marmoratus), Least Killifish (Poecillia vivipara), Least Killifish (Phalloceros cf. pellos), and Rivulus (Atlantirivulus luelingi) are found.
Particularities
In addition to all the richness of plant and animal species, the park also preserves some singularities. The Rio Vermelho State Park region houses the Ingleses-Rio Vermelho Aquifer in its subsoil, responsible for supplying water to the northern part of Santa Catarina Island. For this reason, the conservation of the park contributes to the recharge of the Aquifer occurring without any impediment and free of contaminants.
There is a plant species found in the Rio Vermelho State Park area, discovered in 1964 and to this day has not been found anywhere else in the world. This is Mimosa catharinensis Burkart, a climbing shrub with thorns. In the park, the occurrence of the Sand Dune Lizard (Liolaemus occipitalis) was recorded, a rare, endangered species that only lives in the dunes of the coast of Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul. There are currently 25 mammal species on Santa Catarina Island, and practically all of them are likely to be found in Rio Vermelho State Park due to the wide variety of environments.
In a survey by the Federal University of Santa Catarina, footprints of Opossum (Didelphis aurita) and Crab-eating Fox (Cerdocyon thous) were seen. The Black Capuchin Monkey (Cebus nigritus) is found in the park and gives its name to Morro dos Macacos. In addition to its environmental importance, the park has cultural and historical significance. One of the oldest shellmounds on Santa Catarina Island, dated to 5,020 years before the present, is located within Rio Vermelho State Park. The São João do Rio Vermelho District, located on the northern boundary of the park, is one of the oldest in Florianópolis, officially created in 1831.
In the photos below, Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia) and Sand Dune Lizard (Liolaemus occipitalis).
Leave a Reply