Designation State park Area 126 ha | Created 2005 Nearest city São Luís | |
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The Sítio Rangedor State Park (Portuguese: Parque Estadual do Sítio do Rangedor) is a state park in the state of Maranhão, Brazil. It is located in the centre of São Luís, the state capital, and contains the state's Legislative Assembly and other public buildings.
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Background
The conservation unit is in the Calhau bairro of São Luís, the state capital. It is located in the Sítio Santa Eulália and Sítio Rangedor sectors of land owned by the IPEM (Instituto de Previdência do Estado do Maranhão) in a prime location of the city. In 1991 the Henrique de La Roque Palace was built there, the Administrative Centre of the State of Maranhão. The Sítio Rangedor Ecological Station was established as a fully protected area by state decree 21797 of 2005, with an initial area of 126 hectares (310 acres).
History
The Legislative Assembly of the state of Maranhão was built within the Ecological Station soon after it was established. An environmental assessment report published in June 2006 stated that the construction had minimal impact on the conservation unit since it was mostly built on deforested parts of the site. Decree 23.303 of 2007 reduced the area of the unit to 121 hectares (300 acres). The government later built the Sebrae Multicenter and the Pedro Neiva de Santana Convention Center in the unit.
In February 2013 senior state politicians planted 50 seedlings of native species in the ecological station to symbolize the start of a compensation and reforestation program in Maranhão Island. About 25 hectares (62 acres) of the unit would be taken up by the program. In October 2013 it was reported that the seat of the Maranhão Institute of Industrial Metrics and Quality was to be built in the unit. In December 2015 a major fire devastated the environmental unit. The fire department would not say what caused the fire.
On 11 May 2016 the state legislative assembly approved law 321/2015 to change the unit's status and name. The Ecological Station would now be called the Sítio do Rangedor State Park. Formerly public visits were only allowed for educational purposes. Under the new classification, the unit aims to preserve the natural ecosystem of great ecological significance and scenic beauty, support scientific research and environmental education and interpretation, and to support recreation in contact with nature and ecological tourism.