The word
Mantiqueira comes from the Native Indian language Tupi-Guarani and means
"place where the waters are born".
Flora and
fauna of
Serra da Mantiqueira are extremely rich and varie according to
altitude.
Tropical rainforest
occurs up to 1.500 m while there is
seasonal rainforest
between 1.500 to 2.000 m with high concentration
of
Paraná pine (Araucária). Above 2.000 m
occur the so-called "Campos de Altitude"or
altitude fields.
In 1985, 400.000 ha of Serra da Mantiqueira were declared Environmentally Protected Area (APA) in
order to protect and preserve the endemic and andean flora, the remaining area of Araucária forest
and the wildlife, especially species threatened with extinction such as the Vinaceous Amazon.
The Serra da Mantiqueira region offers good hiking, trekking and mountain bike opportunities
particulary at Itatiaia National Park,
Campos do Jordão State Park,
and around the romantic village
Visconde de Mauá.
