Great Pontal Reserve
| Great Pontal Reserve | |
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| Reserva Estadual Pontal do Paranapanema | |
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IUCN category V (protected landscape/seascape)
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Eng Sérgio Motta Dam reservoir to the north.
Light blue: Great Pontal Reserve, mostly deforested. Small black areas in red: Mico Leão Preto ESEC. Large black area in yellow: Morro do Diabo PES |
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| Nearest city | Presidente Epitácio, São Paulo |
| Coordinates | 22°12′56″S 52°17′14″W / 22.215623°S 52.287297°WCoordinates: 22°12′56″S 52°17′14″W / 22.215623°S 52.287297°W |
| Area | 246,840 hectares (610,000 acres) |
| Designation | Ecological reserve |
| Created | 25 November 1942 |
The Great Pontal Reserve (Portuguese: Grande Reserva do Pontal), formally called the Pontal do Paranapanema State Reserve (Portuguese: Reserva Estadual Pontal do Paranapanema), is an ecological reserve is the state of São Paulo, Brazil. It was created in 1942, but over the years suffered considerable degradation by illegal invasions and squatters. It was partly flooded after construction of the Eng Sérgio Motta Dam on the Paraná River. The reserve today is a poor agricultural region mostly used for cattle and sugar cane farming.
The Pontal do Paranapanema occupies the extreme west of the state of São Paulo. It is bounded to the north and west by the Paraná River and to the south by the Paranapanema River. To the east it was bounded by the advancing agricultural frontier. European occupation of the Pontal do Paranapanema region began in earnest when the Sorocabana Railway reached the Paraná River in 1917. Urban centers were built along the railway and intensive logging began, followed by farming of coffee, cotton, peanuts and cattle.
The governor of São Paulo state in the early 1940s, Fernando Costa, created three reserves to protect public land in the region. The Morro do Diabo Forest Reserve, which later became the Morro do Diabo State Park, was created on 29 October 1941. The Lagoa São Paulo Reserve was created on 6 November 1942, and the Great Pontal Reserve was created by decree 13.075 of 25 November 1942. These three reserves covered 297,340 hectares (734,700 acres) of forest.
Over the years that followed the Lagoa São Paulo and Great Pontal reserves continued to be invaded by squatters and deforested, often with government support. Costa's successor, Adhemar de Barros allowed this process, supported by the local mayors. Lagoa São Paulo Reserve was the first to be invaded, followed by the Great Pontal Reserve, which was reduced by Adhemar de Barros in 1944 from 246,840 hectares (610,000 acres) to 108,900 hectares (269,000 acres). Between 1945 and 1965 most of the Great Pontal Reserve reserve was deforested to make way for large cattle farms or for small farms of 5–15 alqueires around urban locations.
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Wikipedia