The
Tijuca Forest (
Floresta da Tijuca in
PortuguesePortuguese is a Romance language that originated in what is now Galicia and northern Portugal. It is derived from the Latin spoken by the romanized Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula around 2000 years ago...
) is a mountainous hand-planted
rainforestRainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions setting minimum normal annual rainfall between 1750–2000 mm . The monsoon trough, alternately known as the intertropical convergence zone, plays a significant role in creating Earth's tropical rain forests.From 40 to 75%...
in the city of
Rio de JaneiroRio de Janeiro is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America. The city was the capital of Brazil for nearly two centuries, from 1763 to 1822 during the Portuguese colonial era, and...
,
BrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the fifth largest country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the fifth most populous country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean...
. It is the world's largest
urban forestAn urban forest is a forest or a collection of trees that grow within a city, town or a suburb. In a wider sense it may include any kind of woody plant vegetation growing in and around human settlements. In a narrower sense it describes areas whose ecosystems are inherited from wilderness...
, covering some 32 km². (Check Pedra Branca Park,
Rio de JaneiroRio de Janeiro is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America. The city was the capital of Brazil for nearly two centuries, from 1763 to 1822 during the Portuguese colonial era, and...
for the world's largest NATIVE urban forest)
The Tijuca Forest is home to hundreds of species of plants and
wildlifeWildlife includes all non-domesticated plants, animals, and other organisms. Domesticating wild plant and animal species for human benefit has occurred many times all over the planet, and has a major impact on the environment, both positive and negative....
, many threatened by
extinctionIn biology and ecology, extinction is the end of an organism or group of taxa. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of that species...
, found only in the Atlantic Rainforest (
Mata Atlântica in
PortuguesePortuguese is a Romance language that originated in what is now Galicia and northern Portugal. It is derived from the Latin spoken by the romanized Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula around 2000 years ago...
).
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The
Tijuca Forest (
Floresta da Tijuca in
PortuguesePortuguese is a Romance language that originated in what is now Galicia and northern Portugal. It is derived from the Latin spoken by the romanized Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula around 2000 years ago...
) is a mountainous hand-planted
rainforestRainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions setting minimum normal annual rainfall between 1750–2000 mm . The monsoon trough, alternately known as the intertropical convergence zone, plays a significant role in creating Earth's tropical rain forests.From 40 to 75%...
in the city of
Rio de JaneiroRio de Janeiro is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America. The city was the capital of Brazil for nearly two centuries, from 1763 to 1822 during the Portuguese colonial era, and...
,
BrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the fifth largest country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the fifth most populous country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean...
. It is the world's largest
urban forestAn urban forest is a forest or a collection of trees that grow within a city, town or a suburb. In a wider sense it may include any kind of woody plant vegetation growing in and around human settlements. In a narrower sense it describes areas whose ecosystems are inherited from wilderness...
, covering some 32 km². (Check Pedra Branca Park,
Rio de JaneiroRio de Janeiro is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America. The city was the capital of Brazil for nearly two centuries, from 1763 to 1822 during the Portuguese colonial era, and...
for the world's largest NATIVE urban forest)
The Tijuca Forest is home to hundreds of species of plants and
wildlifeWildlife includes all non-domesticated plants, animals, and other organisms. Domesticating wild plant and animal species for human benefit has occurred many times all over the planet, and has a major impact on the environment, both positive and negative....
, many threatened by
extinctionIn biology and ecology, extinction is the end of an organism or group of taxa. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of that species...
, found only in the Atlantic Rainforest (
Mata Atlântica in
PortuguesePortuguese is a Romance language that originated in what is now Galicia and northern Portugal. It is derived from the Latin spoken by the romanized Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula around 2000 years ago...
). After all the original forest had been destroyed to make way for coffee farms, Tijuca was replanted by Major Manuel Gomes Archer in the second half of the 19th century, in a successful effort to protect Rio's water supply.
Tijuca Forest, the green spine of Rio, also contains the colossal sculpture of
Christ the RedeemerChrist the Redeemer is a statue of Jesus Christ in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; considered the largest art deco statue in the world. The statue stands tall, including its pedestal, and wide. It weighs 635 tons , and is located at the peak of the Corcovado mountain in the Tijuca Forest National Park...
on
CorcovadoCorcovado, meaning "hunchback" in Portuguese, is a mountain in central Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.The granite peak is located in the Tijuca Forest, a national park. Corcovado hill lies just west of the city center but is wholly within the city limits and visible from great distances...
, with the stretch of road closed to vehicular traffic leading to it, called
Paineiras; the Cascatinha Waterfall; the Mayrink Chapel with murals painted by
Cândido PortinariCandido Portinari was one of the most important Brazilian painters and also a prominent and influential practitioner of the neo-realism style in painting....
; the light pagoda-style gazebo at Vista Chinesa outlook; and the giant granite picnic table called the
Mesa do Imperador. Among its impressive peaks is the
Pedra da GáveaPedra da Gávea , is an impressive rock rising 842 meters above sea level at the highest point, located in Floresta da Tijuca in the city of Rio de Janeiro. The rock is composed of gneiss and granite, and due to its position, size and coastal location, as well as the lack of purchase for vegetation,...
.
In 1961, Tijuca Forest was declared a
National ParkA national park is a reserve of natural or semi-natural land, declared or owned by a national government, set aside for human recreation and enjoyment, and protected from most development...
.
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