Tumucumaque National Park

The Amazon


Parque Nacional Montanhas do Tumucumaque (Tumucumaque National Park) is Brazil’s largest national park, spanning nearly 39,000 sq km. It borders the similarly immense Parque Indígena do Tumucumaque, in Pará; together they form the largest swath of protected rain forest in the world.

The parks are part of an even larger preservation zone – in concept, though only partially in law – called the Guiana Shield Zone, which spans a whopping 150,000 sq km in Brazil, the Guianas, Suriname and Venezuela, and was designated in 2006 to encourage member countries to establish national parks in the area.

Tumucumaque Park is currently closed to visitors, as IBAMA has yet to establish and ratify an environmental management plan for the area. There’s no telling when it’ll be complete – they’ve been at it for nearly ten years and counting – much less a time frame for establishing trails, camping areas, guide services and other infrastructure needed for visits. The Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação e Biodiversidad has direct oversight of the park and is the best source of information; it was located in Macapá’s IBAMA office at the time of research, but was planning to relocate. Otherwise, you may be able to find guides in the small town of Serra do Navio, which is just outside the protected area but enjoys much of the same ecology. Other protected areas in Amapá include Ilha de Maracá, the Floresta Nacional do Amapá and Parque Nacional do Cabo Orange. Like Tumucumaque, they are not yet open to tourism, but plans are in the works. Check with IBAMA.