7.8 – Natural assets

The Natural World Heritage Sites were created by UNESCO with the objective of protecting exceptional areas in relation to their biological diversity and landscape. Environmental protection, respect for cultural diversity and native populations are the main focus, besides the benefits to nature. These areas represent a significant source of income due to ecotourism.

Even with the enormous diversity in Brazil, the number of areas protected by legislation is small. There are 8 recognized areas, among them are protected Cerrado locations: Chapada dos Veadeiros (Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park) and Parque Nacional das Emas (Emas National Park).

Even though the Federal District does not have a specific site, it is part of the cerrado biome, the area under Chapada dos Veadeiros protection, which has been a national park since 1961. It is about 265 km from the center of Brasilia and contains the municipalities of Alto Paraíso de Goiás, Cavalcante, Teresina de Goiás, Nova Roma and São João d’Aliança in the state of Goiás. The park objectives are conservation, scientific research, environmental education and public visits. It protects an area of 240,611ha of cerrado, contains exclusive vegetation formations, diverse fauna, innumerable springs and streams and rich mineral divesity, besides the rare scenic beauty sculpted over time.

The Federal District has several areas of extreme importance to the ecosystems, biodiversity and geodiversity in its territory. Besides this, it possesses the great potential to be explored by ecotourism. Of note is the Cafuringa APA and the Gama and Cabeça de Veado APAs.

In the Cafuringa APA are some of the most beautiful natural monuments. There are waterfalls, caves and trails, besides rich fauna and flora resources. Worth noting are the Contagem and plateus. The Chapada Imperial ecological reserve is the largest private preserve in the Federal District cerrado and has about 30 waterfalls, a great variety of fauna and flora besides the development of several environmental projects.

The Contagem Chapada is a biological reserve instituted to protect fauna and flora in extinction, the water resources along the Contagem and Paranoazinho streams as well as the remains of the cerrado. Besides having a considerable number of caves, the most well known is located on the Pedreira hill, in Sobradinho. The Federal District has 58 caves registered in the Brazilian National Cave Registry, with most located in the north portion.

The Gama and Cabeça de Veado APAs were created to help preserve the Gama and Cabeça de Veado streams. They have three Areas of Relevant Ecological Interest (ARIE¹): Santuário da vida Silvestre do Riacho Fundo (Riacho Fundo Wildlife Sanctuary), Capetinga-Taquara ando Cerradão. They also harbor areas of notable scientific importance to the Federal District, such as the Jardim Botânico and University of Brasilia ecological stations, the Reserva Ecológica do IBGE (IBGE Ecological Reserve), Fazenda Experimental Água Limpa (Clean Water Experimental Farm) and the Jardim Zoológico (Zoological Garden).

Examples of Federal District Natural Assets

Chapada Imperial (Imperial Plateu)

Chapada da Contagem (Contagem Plateu)

Apa de Cafuringa (Cafuringa APA)

Poço Azul (Blue Well)

Cachoeira do Tororó (Tororó Waterfall)

Reserva Ecológica Paraíso na Terra (Paradise on Earth Ecological Reserve)

Cachoeira do Urubu (Buzzard Waterfall)

Recanto dos pequizeiros (Little Pequi Resort)

Parque ecológico do cortado (Cortado Ecological Park)