Nearest city Porto Seguro, Bahia Designation Ecological station | Created 21 February 1997 Established February 21, 1997 | |
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The Pau-Brasil Ecological Station (Portuguese: Estação Ecológica do Pau-Brasil is an ecological station in state of Bahia, Brazil. It protects a stand of endangered Brazil wood trees.
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Location
The Pau-Brasil Ecological Station is 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) west of Porto Seguro, at an altitude of 40 metres (130 ft). The station is on the BR-367 highway between Porto Seguro and Eunápolis, and borders the Estação Veracruz, a private natural heritage reserve. The dark-caped Atlantic spiny rat (Trinomys mirapitanga) is known only from the ecological station.
Conservation
The Pau-Brasil Ecological Station was created by decree 6228 of 21 February 1997 with an area of 1,151 hectares (2,840 acres). It was the first ecological station to be created in Brazil. It protects an area of Atlantic Forest in the municipality of Porto Seguro, Bahia. Its purpose is to conserve species of the forest "in situ", especially Brazil wood (Caesalpinia echinata), and to produce seedlings of these plants for use in regenerating strategic areas of the Atlantic Forest.
As of 2010 the station was being managed by the Comissão Executiva do Plano da Lavoura Cacaueira (Ceplac), a government agency responsible for cocoa farming. There were discussions over setting up a trafficked animal screening centre in the station, and selling the real estate to environmental agencies.