Serra do Mar State Park (PESM) is the largest park in the state of São Paulo. With more than 315 thousand hectares, which is equivalent to almost 300 thousand soccer fields, it covers 39 municipalities and is divided into eight nuclei: Picinguaba, Caraguatatuba, São Sebastião, Santa Virginia, Cunha, Curucutu, Itutinga-Pilões and Itariru.
The Curucutu Center of the Park has its 37.5 thousand hectares divided between the cities of São Paulo, Itanhaém, Juquitiba and Mongaguá. In it, within the area comprised by the Ecotourism Center, are the headwaters of the Capivari and Embu-Guaçu rivers, very important for the Guarapiranga reservoir, which supplies part of the capital. The nucleus was created from the old Curucutu Farm, expropriated by the state in 1958, to preserve the spring, when the main activity carried out within its limits was the production of charcoal. The park's biodiversity is unique. It protects about one-fifth of all bird species in Brazil, nearly half of the total Atlantic Forest, some of them endangered, such as the jacutinga, the macuco, the purple-faced parrot, the parrot chaua, the sabcica and the hawk-dove. The name Curucutu, of indigenous origin, probably comes from the Guarani occupation that, upon arriving there, encountered a huge amount of owls. Curucutu is a species of owl, and is the symbol of the park. The trails are the main attractions of the park. Three of them are open to visitors: the Bica Trail, the Mirante Trail and the Santa Rita de Cássia Chapel Trail. All are accompanied by environmental monitors. (We are going to talk about It in The next post).
Location: https://maps.app.goo.gl/eNprbbQKNTSpCLnY8 .
