Iguaçu National Park, located in Paraná State, Brazil, covers an area of 185,262.5 hectares (457,794 acres) and stretches about 420 kilometers (260 miles) long. Of this, 300 kilometers (190 miles) are natural borders formed by water and the park’s area shared with Argentina totals around 260,000 hectares (640,000 acres). The park was established by federal decree number 1035 on January 10, 1939, and was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1986. It is managed by the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio).

The park borders Iguazú National Park in Argentina. It is home to one of the world’s largest waterfalls, which spans about 2,700 meters (8,900 feet). The park protects many rare and endangered plants and animals, including the giant otter and giant anteater. The mist from the waterfall helps support the growth of thick, green vegetation.

History

The Iguaçu National Park is named after the Iguazu River (Portuguese: Rio Iguaçu), which flows through the area. About 50 square kilometers (19 square miles) of the river’s length includes the Iguaçu Falls.

The park is the most important in the Prata Basin because it protects many important plant and animal species. It was the first park in Brazil to have a Management Plan, which helps guide how the park is protected and used. The park’s main goal, as planned by André Rebouças, is to preserve natural ecosystems that are ecologically and scenically important. This allows scientists to study the area, teaches people about the environment, and provides opportunities for outdoor recreation and eco-tourism.

The Iguaçu National Park is both impressive and innovative. In 1876, André Rebouças, an engineer, proposed creating a national park to protect the Iguazu Falls for future generations. He described the area as a place with "all possible preservation, from the beautiful to the sublime" and "an unmatched flora" at the "magnificent Iguaçu waterfalls." This idea helped start a movement to protect the falls. At that time, Yellowstone National Park, the first national park in the world, had been established just four years earlier.

On November 17, 1986, during a UNESCO conference in Paris, the Iguaçu National Park was recognized as a Natural Heritage of Humanity. It is one of the largest forest protection areas in South America.

Location

The Park in Brazil shares boundaries with these municipalities: Foz do Iguaçu, Medianeira, Matelândia, Céu Azul, São Miguel do Iguaçu, Santa Terezinha de Itaipu, Santa Tereza do Oeste, Capitão Leônidas Marque, Capanema, and Serranópolis.

The Park is in the far west part of Paraná state, within the Iguaçú River basin, 17 km (11 miles) from the city center of Foz do Iguaçu. It borders Argentina, where the Iguazu National Park, created in 1934, is located. The border between Brazil and Argentina, as well as their national parks, follows the Iguaçú River. The river begins near the Serra do Mar mountain range near Curitiba and flows for 18 km (11 miles) through Paraná state. The river’s mouth is 18 km downstream from the Falls, where it joins the Paraná River. This meeting of rivers forms the shared border of Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay.

Fishing rules were published on October 2, 2008, and apply to conservation areas and their buffer zones in the Paraná River basin. These areas include Morro do Diabo State Park, Rio do Peixe State Park, Aguapeí State Park, Mico Leão Preto Ecological Station, Ivinhema State Park, Ilha Grande National Park, Caiuá Ecological Station, and Iguaçu National Park. The Santa Maria Ecological Corridor connects Iguaçu National Park to the protected areas along Lake Itaipu and, through these areas, to Ilha Grande National Park. The Park is part of a proposed Trinational Biodiversity Corridor, which seeks to link conservation areas in Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina within the Upper Paraná ecoregion.

Tourism

The part of the park that is open for visitors and includes the areas managed by Cataratas do Iguaçú S/A covers about 0.3% of the entire park's area.

The most impressive feature of the park is the Iguaçú Falls, which form a semicircle that is 2,700 meters wide. The water falls from a height of 72 meters (236 feet). The number of waterfalls changes depending on the flow of the Iguaçú River, ranging between 150 and 300. In addition to the waterfalls, the park has other attractions, such as diverse wildlife, the Poço Preto (Black Well), the Macuco Waterfall, the Visitors Center, and the Santos Dumont Statue. The statue was created by VASP, a former airline company, to honor Santos Dumont, known as the "Father of Aviation," for his role in establishing the area as a National Park. In 2014, the park welcomed 1,550,700 visitors.