Tumucumaque Mountains National Park

Lore & Background

Tumucumaque Mountains National Park, established on August 23, 2002, through collaboration between the Brazilian government and the WWF, spans more than the area of Belgium, making it the largest tropical forest national park in the world. It lies within the Amazon rainforest across the Brazilian states of Amapá and Pará, bordering French Guiana and Suriname to the north. The park is part of the Amapá Biodiversity Corridor, created in 2003, and is supported by the Amazon Region Protected Areas Program; its management plan was published on March 10, 2010. The region is uninhabited and of high ecological value, with many animal species—particularly fish and aquatic birds—found nowhere else on Earth. It provides habitat for jaguars, primates, aquatic turtles, and harpy eagles. The highest point in the state of Amapá, reaching 701 meters, lies within the park. The climate is tropical monsoon, with an average temperature of 25°C and annual rainfall between 2,000 and 3,250 mm. The park is accessible via two sectors: the Amapari Sector, reached by boat on the Amapari River from Serra do Navio or Pedra Branca do Amapari, offering camping, trails, and wildlife viewing; and the Oiapoque Sector, where visitors can camp at Cachoeira do Anotaie or visit Vila Brasil, a community on the Oiapoque River opposite the French Guianan indigenous settlement of Camopi.

Reader's Guide

The park forms part of the Amapá Biodiversity Corridor and is supported by the Amazon Region Protected Areas Program, with its management plan finalized in 2010. As the world’s largest tropical forest national park, its area exceeds that of Belgium, and when combined with the adjacent Guiana Amazonian Park in French Guiana, the protected expanse is still smaller than a three-park system on the Brazil-Venezuelan border. However, the addition of large neighboring reserves in northern Pará, such as the Grão-Pará Ecological Station and Maicuru Biological Reserve, makes the Guiana Shield one of the best-protected and largest ecological corridors of tropical rainforest globally. The park is uninhabited and of high ecological value, hosting many endemic animal species, especially fish and aquatic birds found nowhere else. It provides habitat for jaguars, primates, aquatic turtles, and harpy eagles. The highest point of Amapá state, at 701 meters, lies within the park. Its tropical monsoon climate averages 25°C with annual rainfall between 2,000 and 3,250 mm. Tourism operates in two sectors: the Amapari Sector, accessed via Serra do Navio by aluminum boat along the Amapari River to a rustic base with camping and hammocks, offering trails, river bathing, and wildlife observation; and the Oiapoque Sector, featuring camping at Cachoeira do Anotaie on the Anotaie River, a 40 km boat trip from Oiapoque, plus visits to Vila Brasil, a community on the Oiapoque River opposite the French Guianan indigenous village of Camopi, where small hotels and traders serve indigenous people. The park’s legacy includes serving as the code-name for the beta of Mozilla Firefox 4.

Did You Know?

• Tumucumaque Mountains National Park is larger than Belgium.
• Mozilla Firefox code-named the beta of Firefox 4 'Tumucumaque'.