Lençóis Maranhenses National Park

Lore & Background

The park lies on the northeastern coast of Brazil, bordered by 70 km of Atlantic beaches and inland by other rivers; the Parnaíba River forms the eastern boundary. Its dunes, formed during the late Quaternary period, are composed of barchanoid dunes and rise up to 40 meters tall. Sand is carried from the interior by the Parnaíba and Preguiças rivers and driven inland by winds up to 50 km. During the rainy season from January to June, rain fills the valleys between dunes with lagoons up to 100 meters long and 3 meters deep, covering as much as 41% of the park. The water is prevented from draining by an impermeable rock layer beneath the sand. The lagoons have temperatures between 27.5°C and 32°C, pH between 4.9 and 6.2, and low nutrient levels. In the dry season, they evaporate quickly, losing up to 1 meter of depth per month. Two oases, Queimada do Britos (1,100 ha) and Baixa Grande (850 ha), exist in the interior.

Reader's Guide

Lençóis Maranhenses National Park is significant for its exceptional natural beauty and unique geological and hydrological features, recognized by UNESCO in 2024. The park's ecosystem includes dunes, restinga, and mangrove areas, supporting 133 plant species, 112 bird species, and at least 42 reptile species. It is home to four endangered species: the scarlet ibis, neotropical otter, oncilla, and West Indian manatee. The lagoons host fish and insects, such as the wolf fish, which burrows into mud during the dry season. The park receives about 60,000 visitors annually, who engage in activities like surfing, canoeing, and horse riding. Its landscape has been featured in films such as The House of Sand, Enthiran, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame, and a concert by RY X was filmed there in 2022. The park's conservation status and popularity as an ecotourism destination highlight its importance as a natural heritage site.

Did You Know?

• The park receives about 1,200 mm of rain per year, far more than a desert's 250 mm.
• During the rainy season, lagoons can cover up to 41% of the park's area.
• The park is home to three endangered species: scarlet ibis, neotropical otter, and oncilla.
• The park's dunes were used as the planet Vormir in the films Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.

The Dune Architecture and Coastal Setting

Lençóis Maranhenses stretches along the Atlantic coast of Maranhão state in northeastern Brazil, sitting just east of the Baía de São José. Its 155,000-hectare territory wraps around 70 kilometres of shoreline, while inland boundaries are marked by the Parnaíba River, the São José Basin, and the tributaries Itapecuru, Munim, and Periá. The park's signature feature is a vast field of barchanoid sand dunes that accumulated during the late Quaternary period. The Parnaíba and Preguiças rivers transport sediment from the continental interior, and prevailing winds then push that sand up to 50 kilometres inland, sculpting crests that climb as high as 40 metres. Despite its stark, desert-like appearance, the region receives roughly 1,200 millimetres of precipitation each year—far exceeding the 250-millimetre threshold that defines a true desert. Seventy percent of that rainfall arrives between January and May, and the average annual temperature hovers between 26 and 28.5 degrees Celsius with barely a 1.1-degree seasonal swing.

The Lagoon Cycle and Seasonal Rhythm

From January through June, heavy rainstorms pool in the hollows between the dunes, creating a mosaic of freshwater lagoons that can stretch up to 100 metres in length and reach 3 metres in depth. At their seasonal peak, these pools cover as much as 41 percent of the park's total area. A layer of impermeable rock beneath the sandy surface traps the water, preventing it from seeping away. The lagoons typically sit between 27.5 and 32 degrees Celsius, carry a pH of roughly 4.9 to 6.2, and hold very low concentrations of dissolved nutrients. Many of the pools are interconnected with one another and with the rivers threading through the landscape. When the dry season returns, evaporation strips away up to a metre of water depth each month, and the lagoons shrink rapidly. Deep within the dune field, two permanent oases—Queimada do Britos at 1,100 hectares and Baixa Grande at 850 hectares—offer year-round green refuges amid the shifting sands.

Biodiversity in a Shifting Habitat

The park supports a surprisingly rich web of life for a landscape that looks, at first glance, like an arid wasteland. Its lagoons and connected river systems shelter a variety of fish and insect species, among them the wolf fish, which burrows into wet mud layers and enters a dormant state throughout the dry months. Beyond the dunes themselves, the ecosystem also encompasses restinga and mangrove habitats. The park is home to 133 plant species, 112 bird species, and at least 42 reptile species. Four animals appear on Brazil's official list of endangered species: the scarlet ibis, the neotropical otter, the oncilla, and the West Indian manatee. The seasonal rhythm of the lagoons—filling in the wet months and evaporating in the dry—shapes the survival strategies of every creature here, from the fish that hunker down in mud to the birds and reptiles that depend on this shifting mosaic of wet and dry habitats.

Global Recognition and Cultural Presence

Protected as a national park on June 2, 1981, Lençóis Maranhenses gained a further layer of international stature in July 2024 when UNESCO inscribed it as a World Heritage Site, citing its exceptional beauty and its status as a unique natural phenomenon on Earth. The park draws up to 60,000 visitors annually, who come to surf along its coastline, paddle through the lagoons by canoe, or ride horses across the dune fields. Its striking landscape has also become a magnet for filmmakers and musicians. The Brazilian film The House of Sand was shot here, as was the song "Kadhal Anukkal" from the Indian Tamil-language film Enthiran. Marvel's Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019) used the dune-and-lagoon scenery to depict the planet Vormir. In 2022, the music group RY X filmed a concert in the park, adding a contemporary artistic chapter to the park's growing cultural portfolio.

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