Rio da Casca Ecological Station

The Rio da Casca Ecological Station (Estação Ecológica do Rio da Casca) is an ecological station in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil. It protects a partly deforested area of savanna.

Location
The Rio da Casca Ecological Station (ESEC) is divided between the municipalities of Chapada dos Guimarães (76.61%), Cuiabá (10.84%) and Campo Verde (12.52%) in the state of Mato Grosso. The ESEC has two parts, one with an area of 3329 ha and the other with an area of 205 ha. The total area is 3534 ha. It lies to the east of the MT-450 state highway and is south of the BR-251 federal highway.

History
The Rio da Casca Ecological Station was created by state governor decree 6.437 of 27 May 1994. The consultative council was created on 15 December 2014.

Environment
The ESEC is just over 87% savannah, and about 13% contact between savannah and seasonal forest. It overlaps about 7% with the Chapada dos Guimarães Environmental Protection Area. The ESEC was about 65% deforested at time of creation, and since then has lost a further 4% of forest coverage. The Casca River, a tributary of the Roncador River, runs through the ESEC from south to north.