Rio Doce State Park

Rio Doce State Park
Parque Estadual do Rio Doce
IUCN category II (national park)
Dom Helvécio lagoon, Rio Doce State Park
Nearest city	Marliéria, Minas Gerais
Coordinates	19°39′13″S 42°32′08″W / 19.653615°S 42.535557°W / -19.653615; -42.535557Coordinates: 19°39′13″S 42°32′08″W / 19.653615°S 42.535557°W / -19.653615; -42.535557
Area	35,970 ha (138.9 sq mi)
Designation	State park
Created	14 July 1944
Administrator	Instituto Estadual de Florestas MG

The Rio Doce State Park (Portuguese: Parque Estadual do Rio Doce) is a state park in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. It protects a large remnant of Atlantic Forest, and includes a system of lagoons rich in species of native fish.

The Rio Doce State Park is in the southwest of Minas Gerais, 248 kilometres (154 mi) from Belo Horizonte, in the Vale do Aço region. It is divided between the municipalities of Marliéria, Dionísio and Timóteo. It has an area of 35,970 hectares (88,900 acres). The Doce River forms the eastern boundary of the park, and its tributary the Piracicaba River forms the northern boundary.

The park protects part of the third largest lake system in Brazil after the Amazon and the Pantanal of Mato Grosso. This is a system of forty natural lagoons including the 6.7 square kilometres (2.6 sq mi) Lagoa Dom Helvécio, with a depth of up to 32.5 metres (107 ft). The lake system is at an altitude of 300 metres (980 ft). The lakes are 20 metres (66 ft) above the river, and are not connected with the river system.

Creation of the park was first suggested in the early 1930s by Dom Helvécio Gomes de Oliveira, Archbishop of Mariana. After a long campaign, the Rio Doce State Park was created by state decree-law 1.119 of 14 July 1944, the first state-level conservation unit in Minas Gerais. During the first years the park was not monitored and access was uncontrolled, so the fauna suffered considerably from unrestricted hunting and fishing. A fire in the dry season destroyed 9,000 hectares (22,000 acres) of forest, with 11 deaths.

In the 1970s some tourism infrastructure was established. A renovation was undertaken from 1986 to 1993, when the park was reopened to visitors. The park became an administrative unit of the State Forestry Institute (IEF) through law 11.337 of 1993. As of 2002, when the management plan was issued, 82% of land titles had been acquired by the state.

Average annual rainfall is 1,480.3 millimetres (58.28 in), with a dry period from May to September. Mean annual temperature is 21.9 °C (71.4 °F). The park contains a remnant of Atlantic Forest, mostly seasonal semideciduous forest in various stages of succession. It is the largest contiguous remnant of Atlantic forest in Minas Gerais, with 1,129 plant species from 134 families. Trees such as jequitibá, garapa, vinhático and sapucaia are common. In some places rare specimens such as the jacarandá-da-baía and canela sassafrás also appear.