Bananal Ecological Station

The Bananal Ecological Station (Estação Ecológica de Bananal) is an Ecological station in the state of São Paulo, Brazil.

Location
The Bananal Ecological Station is in the municipality of Bananal, São Paulo. It has an area of 884 ha. It is in a region of the Serra da Bocaina with sharp relief. Altitudes range from 1200 to 1900 m. It is part of the 221754 ha Bocaina Mosaic, created in 2006. Visitors must obtain permission from the station's management, who will assign an employee as a guide. There is a short 300 m trail to the last fall of the Sete Quedas waterfalls, a scenic attraction.

Environment
The climate is humid subtropical, with three dry months in the year. Average annual rainfall is 1250 to 1500 mm. Average annual temperature is 20 to 33 C. Maximum average temperature in 36 to 38 C and minimum average temperature is 0 to 4 C. The ecological station contains remnants of Atlantic Forest. Vegetation includes cloud forest and dense montane and submontane rainforest. Two new species of bromeliad have only been found in the station, Neoregelia pontuali and Wittrockia corallina.

History
The Bananal State Forest Reserve was created by state decree 43.193 of 3 April 1964 to conserve the forest and preserve the flora and fauna. On 12 March 1987 governor André Franco Montoro altered the category of the reserve to create the Bananal Ecological Station. The station is funded in partnership between the São Paulo secretariat of the environment and the German KfW bank.