Itirapina Ecological Station

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

Location
The Itirapina Ecological Station is divided between the municipalities of Brotas (44.15%) and Itirapina (55.85%) in the state of São Paulo. It has an area of 2300 ha. The area contains a sample of remnants of cerrado vegetation, and also has an important fluvial network that supplies the Lobo Dam.

The Itirapina Ecological State and the Itirapina Experimental Station are managed as a whole, and together have an area of 5512 ha. 94% of the ecological station has cerrado vegetation, mostly rocky, clean or wet meadows, as well as cerrado strict sense, riverside forests and cerradão. The experimental station covers 3212 ha including a large area reforested with fast-growing pine and eucalyptus. It is used for forestry research. The buffer zone for the two units covers 19602 ha.

History
The Itirapina Ecological Station was created by Governor André Franco Montoro by state decree 22.335 of 7 June 1984. The ecological station was on publicly owned land. It had the objective of ensuring the integrity of the ecosystems and river complex it contains, protecting its fauna and flora, and supporting scientific research and education.