Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park
Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park is a national park of Brazil located in the state of Goiás, on the top of an ancient plateau with an estimated age of 1.8 billion years. The park was created on January 11, 1961, by President Juscelino Kubitschek, and listed as a World Heritage Site by Unesco in 2001. It occupies an area of in the municipalities of Alto Paraíso de Goiás, Cavalcante and Colinas do Sul. The park is maintained by Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation.
History
The Chapada dos Veadeiros region was first developed around the gold rush in the 18th century. Cavalcante was one of the first villages founded in the region, and at one point became one of Brazil's major gold extractors. Some reports say that Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil visited Cavalcante, making it the capital of the Empire for a day. The necessity of slave labor to work the mines in the Chapada dos Veadeiros was so great that the region is now home to some of the biggest Quilombo communities in Brazil.Kalungas
The Quilombos are communities of Afro-Brazilians who managed to escape from slavery, both from agricultural plantations and mines. The Quilombo communities of Chapada dos Veadeiros include a subgroup known as the Kalungas. The word Kalunga meant "something of smaller value" in the past. The term is now a term of pride for the Kalunga group. Their image in Brazil has grown. With the end of the golden period of mining, the Chapada dos Veadeiros had only an isolated collection of villages; they were rediscovered and engaged in tourism to support Kalunga communities.Geography
Climate
The average yearly temperature is, ranging from a minimum of and reaching a maximum of.Altitude
With altitudes between, it is the highest plain in Central Brazil. The highest point of the park and of the state of Goiás is Serra da Santana, at above sea level.Rock formations
Its rock formations are one of the oldest on the planet. There are quartz with outcrops of crystals. These rocks are exported and appreciated in Japan and England, where for some decades they were used for industrial work.Rock crystals are present in the soil of the rich cerrado, or open pasture. Forest growth is also still found in the region, where more than 25 species of orchids can be found, besides other Brazilian species such as pau d'arco roxo, copaíba, aroeira, tamanqueira, terivá, buritis and Babaçu.
The main river in the park is the Rio Preto, a tributary of the Tocantins River. There are many waterfalls along its course such as the Rio Preto Falls and the Cariocas Falls. The park is noted for its scenic canyons, with walls of up to high and valleys of up to deep.