Maracá-Jipioca Ecological Station


Maracá-Jipioca Ecological Station is an ecological station covering two islands about offshore from Amapá, a municipality in Amapá state, Brazil. It protects an area of coastal mangroves and tropical rainforest.

Location

The ecological station is located on the adjacent islands Ilha de Maracá do Norte and Ilha de Maracá do Sul off the coast of Amapá, with an area of about.
The reserve was created by decree of 2 June 1981 with the objective of preserving significant samples of the original coastal marine environment influenced by the Amazon river.
It is part of the Amazon biosphere.
It is managed by the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation.
The reserve is in the Amapá municipality of Amapá state.
It is part of the Amapá Biodiversity Corridor, created in 2003.

Environment

The terrain is extremely flat, with maximum elevation of.
Average annual rainfall is
Temperatures range from with an average of.
The shoreline and stream banks are dominated by mangroves, with typical floodplain species of trees in the more elevated areas.
The coastal vegetation is in the Amapá mangroves ecoregion.
Due to the difficulty of motorized access the unit has excellent biodiversity with many species, some of them endangered.
The reserve is used by many migratory birds including American flamingo, American yellow warbler, laughing gull, semipalmated plover, greater yellowlegs, osprey, spotted sandpiper (Actitis macularius

Conservation

The Ecological Station is a "strict nature reserve" under IUCN protected area category Ia.
The purpose is to conserve significant samples of pioneer formations in the coastal marine environment influenced by the Amazon River.
The conservation unit is supported by the Amazon Region Protected Areas Program.