Altamiro de Moura Pacheco

Altamiro de Moura Pacheco State Park protects a remnant of cerrado and gallery forest on the outskirts of metropolitan Goiania, spanning approximately 2,132 hectares in the municipalities of Goianapolis, Neropolis, and Terezopolis de Goias. ^[1] Established in 1992, the park safeguards the headwaters of important tributaries of the Joao Leite River, which supplies drinking water to the state capital. The reserve is one of the closest protected cerrado fragments to a major Brazilian city and is named after Altamiro de Moura Pacheco, a physician, pharmacist, writer, cattle rancher, and politician from Goias who formerly owned the land. Its proximity to Goiania makes it an important ecological buffer and environmental education destination for a rapidly urbanizing region of central Brazil.

The park harbors a diverse assemblage of cerrado and gallery-forest fauna, including maned wolf, giant anteater, southern tamandua, crab-eating fox, and several armadillo species. Marmosets and capuchin monkeys inhabit the denser gallery forests along streams, while six-banded armadillos and pampas deer use the open savanna. Over 200 bird species have been recorded, including red-legged seriemas, toco toucans, burrowing owls, king vultures, and the threatened white-banded tanager. ^[1] Reptiles include boa constrictors, caimans in stream pools, and numerous lizard species. The park also provides refuge for several declining amphibians tied to cerrado seasonal wetlands and acts as a genetic corridor connecting isolated cerrado fragments around Goiania.

The vegetation is a mosaic of cerrado physiognomies typical of the Central Brazilian Plateau, including cerrado sensu stricto, cerradao (woodland cerrado), campo sujo (dirty grassland), and extensive gallery forests along the Cacu, Joao Leite, and Barreiro streams. Characteristic trees include pequi (Caryocar brasiliense), lobeira, sucupira, ipe-amarelo, jatoba, copaiba, and the twisted-branched pau-terra. The gallery forests shelter taller emergents such as jequitiba, embauba, and wild figs, alongside epiphytic orchids and bromeliads. Herbaceous flora includes native grasses, vellozias, and fire-adapted geophytes that resprout after seasonal dry-season burns, creating bursts of wildflowers at the onset of the rainy season.

The park sits on the Central Brazilian Plateau (Planalto Central) within the Brasilia Fold Belt, where weathered Precambrian rocks of the Araxaa Group underlie thick lateritic soils. Surface geology is dominated by deep red-yellow latosols and cambisols that formed over schists, quartzites, and phyllites exposed in stream valleys. These oxisols are heavily leached, acidic, and aluminum-rich, conditions that strongly shape the cerrado vegetation. Gentle undulating relief between 800 and 1,100 meters elevation is dissected by narrow valleys that feed the Joao Leite reservoir. Occasional quartzite outcrops and iron-rich concretions (canga) mark higher ground, while sandy alluvial deposits line the stream channels.

The park experiences a tropical savanna climate (Koppen Aw) with two distinct seasons: a warm wet season from October through April and a pronounced dry season from May to September. Annual rainfall averages around 1,500 millimeters, concentrated in the summer months when afternoon thunderstorms are common. Temperatures remain relatively warm year-round, with monthly averages between 20 and 25 degrees Celsius, though dry-season nights can dip below 10 degrees Celsius during cold fronts from the south. Relative humidity drops sharply in August and September, often below 30 percent, elevating fire risk. This seasonal rhythm drives cerrado phenology and regulates stream flow into the Joao Leite watershed.

The lands now protected by the park lie within the ancestral territory of Je-speaking peoples, including the Xavante and Karaja, who used cerrado environments for hunting, gathering pequi and baru nuts, and seasonal burning that maintained open grasslands. Portuguese bandeirantes entered the region in the eighteenth century during the Goias gold rush, leading to the founding of nearby Vila Boa and the eventual displacement of Indigenous groups. From the nineteenth century onward, cattle ranching and subsistence farming dominated the landscape. Rapid expansion of Goiania after its founding in 1933 brought highways, industrial agriculture, and suburban growth that fragmented the cerrado, prompting late-twentieth-century calls to preserve the remaining forested watersheds near the capital.

Altamiro de Moura Pacheco State Park was created by State Law No. 11,878 on December 30, 1992 to protect the headwaters feeding the Joao Leite watershed. ^[1] The park is named in honor of Altamiro de Moura Pacheco, a physician, pharmacist, writer, cattle rancher, and politician from Goias who previously owned the land. Management falls under the state environmental agency, currently SEMAD (Secretaria de Meio Ambiente e Desenvolvimento Sustentavel). Early years focused on land regularization and boundary demarcation, as portions of the park overlapped with private cattle ranches. In 1993, part of the original 3,183-hectare area was excised for the Ribeirão Joao Leite Reservoir, which supplies drinking water to the Goiania metropolitan region. Since the reservoir went online, management priorities have emphasized watershed protection, fire prevention, and controlling invasive African grasses that fuel dry-season wildfires.

The park's main attractions center on its gallery-forest streams, cerrado vistas, and the Joao Leite reservoir, visible from several overlooks along the park's eastern boundary. Short interpretive trails wind through cerradao and gallery forest, offering opportunities to see ancient pequi trees, flowering ipes, and birdlife such as seriemas and toco toucans. A visitor reception area near the Neropolis entrance provides orientation and environmental education programs aimed at school groups from Goiania. The reservoir edge is particularly scenic at sunset, and birdwatchers visit the transition zones between open cerrado and forest for endemic tanagers and woodcreepers. Visitation is kept low to reduce disturbance to wildlife and water quality.

The park lies roughly 12 kilometers from Goiania's city center and can be reached via BR-153 and municipal roads through Neropolis or Terezopolis de Goias. ^[1] Facilities are modest and oriented toward environmental education rather than mass tourism, including a visitor center, restrooms, and picnic areas near the main entrance. Access is generally restricted to scheduled visits, school groups, and researchers, and visitors should contact SEMAD in advance for authorization. There is no lodging inside the park, but Goiania offers a full range of accommodations. Visitors should bring water, sun protection, and insect repellent, especially during the wet season when trails may become muddy and mosquitoes are abundant.

Conservation priorities focus on protecting the Joao Leite reservoir's water quality by maintaining gallery forests, stabilizing stream banks, and regulating land use within the park's buffer zone. Ongoing challenges include invasive African grasses such as Brachiaria and Melinis minutiflora, which outcompete native species and intensify dry-season wildfires. State fire brigades conduct prescribed burns and maintain firebreaks to reduce catastrophic fire risk. Reforestation projects restore degraded pasture within former ranch inholdings, while partnerships with Goias State University support biodiversity monitoring and seedling propagation. Environmental education outreach to nearby schools aims to build local stewardship of the cerrado, recognized as one of the world's most threatened biodiversity hotspots.