Aires protégées du Cerrado : Parcs nationaux Chapada dos Veadeiros et Emas

Brève description

© Bruno Poppe

Justification d'inscription

Critère (ix) : Les ACP ont joué un rôle clé pendant des millénaires pour le maintien de la diversité biologique de l’écorégion du Cerrado. En raison de leur position centrale et de leur variation altitudinale, elles ont servi de refuge relativement stable pour les espèces lorsque les changements climatiques ont entraîné le déplacement du Cerrado selon l’axe nord-sud ou est-ouest. Ce rôle de refuge pour les espèces, se poursuit tandis que la Terre entre dans une période de changements climatiques. L’UICN considère que le site proposé remplit ce critère.

Critère (x) : Les APC contiennent des échantillons de tous les habitats essentiels qui caractérisent l’écorégion du Cerrado – un des écosystèmes tropicaux les plus anciens de la Terre. Elles contiennent plus de 60% de toutes les espèces de la flore et près de 80% de toutes les espèces de vertébrés décrites dans le Cerrado. À l’exception de la loutre géante, tous les grands mammifères en danger du Cerrado se trouvent dans le site proposé. En outre, le site entretient de nombreux petits mammifères rares et espèces d’oiseaux que l’on ne trouve nulle part ailleurs dans le Cerrado ainsi que plusieurs espèces nouvelles pour la science qui ont été découvertes dans les APC.

Description longue

The two sites included in the designation contain flora and fauna and key habitats that characterize the Cerrado - one of the world's oldest and most diverse tropical ecosystems. For millennia, these sites have served as refuge for several species during periods of climate change and will be vital for maintaining the biodiversity of the Cerrado region during future climate fluctuations.

The Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park is part of the highest plain in Central Brazil, with its highest point being the Serra da Santana. The region is of outstanding beauty, and is made up of wide plateaus with waterfalls and crystal clear springs. The uplands give way to deep rocky canyons and valleys. The main watercourse is the Preto River, which flows on a north-west to south-west direction; the northern extremity of the park is drained by the Santana and Bartolomeu rivers.

In the region of the park and its surroundings, three landscape areas can be recognized: the Rio Claro Valley Region is a lowland area, with relatively flat, undulating terrain; the Ridge Region is located in the middle-northern portion of the park, including the Rio Preto, Santana, Capim Branco and upland areas to the south; and the Highlands Region is distributed along the central portion of the park and is characterized by a plain relief pattern with some isolated tabular hills that dot landscape.

The Emas National Park is located in the south-west of Goiás State, close to its border with the Mato Grosso do Sul State; it is part of Serra dos Caiapós plateau. It forms the major water divide between the La Plata to the south and the Amazon to the north. The plateau is a gently rolling plain which descends to the Araguaia basin to the north, to the Jacub-Correntes rivers system to the east and to the Taquarí river and Pantanal complex to the west. The main watercourses inside the National Park are the Jacuba and Formosa rivers and tributaries, both of which drain into Paranaíba River.

Mammals include giant anteater, giant armadillo, maned wolf, jaguar and pampas deer. The avifauna of Emas National Park contains many Cerrado grassland specialists and endemic species. Threatened species include lesser nothura, dwarf tinamou, Brazilian merganser, yellow-faced Amazon, white-winged nightjar, rufous-sided pygmy-tyrant, cineous warbling finch, marsh seedeater and black-masked finch. Bird surveys include black-hawk eagle, ocellated crake, greater rhea, Brazilian merganser and dwarf tinamu.