Bacia do Rio Macacu Environmental Protection Area

The Bacia do Rio Macacu Environmental Protection Area (Área de Proteção Ambiental da Bacia do Rio Macacu) is an environmental protection area in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Location
The Bacia do Rio Macacu Environmental Protection Area (APA) covers parts of the municipalities of Cachoeiras de Macacu, Itaboraí and Guapimirim in Rio de Janeiro. It has an area of 19508 ha. It includes areas of plains and lowlands and mountainous areas with springs and important remnants of forest. Its largest area is occupied by pastures, vegetable fields and quarries for sand to be used in construction.

The Guapimirim-Macacu sub-basin is part of the Guanabara Bay basin. It is bounded to the north and northwest by the Serra dos Órgãos, to the northeast by the Serra de Macaé de Cima, to the east by the Serra da Botija and the Serra de Monte Azul, and to the south by the Serra do Sambê and the Serra dos Garcias. The Macacu River, the main river of the APA, is born in the Serra dos Órgãos at about 1700 m in the municipality of Cachoeiras de Macacu, and runs for about 74 km to its junction with the Guapimirim River.

Protected areas near the APA include the Serra dos Órgãos National Park with 11800 ha, Três Picos State Park with 46350 ha, Paraíso Ecological Station with 4920 ha, Guapimirim Environmental Protection Area with 14000 ha and Petrópolis Environmental Protection Area with 59049 ha. Most of these were created to protect springs and headwaters in the forested mountains as well as biodiversity.

History
The Bacia do Rio Macacu Environmental Protection Area was created by state law 4.018 of 5 December 2002. Its objective is to protect marginal areas in the basin of the Macacu River, the largest contributor to Guanabara Bay. It is included in the Central Rio de Janeiro Atlantic Forest Mosaic, created in December 2006. The management plan was prepared in 2009 by the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) in cooperation with other institutions, within a regional planning strategy for the mosaic which considered opportunities for forming corridors between the protected areas and for ecologically sound agriculture.