Cabo Orange National Park

Cabo Orange National Park is located in Amapá state on the coastline of northern Brazil, within the municipalities of Calçoene and Oiapoquein and close to the border with French Guiana.

The National Park is bordered by French Guiana to the north; the Uaçá and Juminã indigenous lands and, in a short stretch, the Vila Velha Settlement Project, to the west and the Atlantic Ocean to the east.

Created in 1980, the National Park has an area of 657,318 ha (1,624,270 acres). It is administered by the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio).

It is, at the same time, a continental park and a marine park, since approximately 200,000 ha (494,000 acres) of its area are in ocean waters.

Cabo Orange National Park contains mangroves, flooded fields, clean fields interspersed with buritizais, savannahs, flooded forests (also called floodplains), upland forests, in addition to marine ecosystems.

Cabo Orange National Park is characterized by periodically and permanently flooded grasslands, unique in the Amazon region, as well as by its mangroves, which act as "fish nurseries" and are vital for the maintenance of some of Brazil's most important fisheries.

The basic objective of the National Park is the preservation of natural ecosystems that are of great ecological relevance and scenic beauty. The designation enables the conduct of scientific research, the development of educational activities and environmental interpretation, and recreation in contact with nature and eco-tourism.

Cabo Orange National Park adjoins the Amapá State Forest, a sustainable use conservation unit, established in 2006 and which covers 2,369,400 ha (5,855,000 acres). The park is part of the Amapá Biodiversity Corridor, created in 2003. The park is supported by the Amazon Region Protected Areas Program.

The park is rich in biodiversity and supports globally threatened species. To date, 358 species of birds, 19 species of plants and 54 species of mammals have been identified here.

Protected species in the park include the giant armadillo (Priodontes maximus), giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla), jaguar (Panthera onca), oncilla (Leopardus tigrinus), black bearded saki (Chiropotes satanas), green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas), smalltooth sawfish (Pristis pectinata), West Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus) and Amazonian manatee (Trichechus inunguis).