Lençóis Maranhenses compete for the Natural Heritage of Humanity

The Lençóis Maranhenses Park competes for the title of Natural Heritage of Humanity, granted by Unesco – United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Confirmation that the park met the technical requirements and had the candidacy approved was made by the governor of Maranhão, Carlos Brandão (PSB), over the weekend. A UNESCO commission will come to Brazil to carry out a face-to-face assessment of the park, but according to a spokesperson for the government of Maranhão, no date has yet been set for this to happen. The state governor is confident and wrote on social networks that he has no doubt that the evaluators “will leave here delighted with this natural paradise, pride of all Maranhão people”. We received a letter from Unesco informing that the candidacy of Lençóis Maranhenses as a Natural Heritage of Humanity met all the technical requirements. And that a commission from the entity will come to Maranhão to carry out a face-to-face assessment of the Park. — Carlos Brandão 🇺🇸 (@carlosbrandaoma) March 4, 2023 The Lençóis National Park is located about 250 kilometers (km) from the capital São Luís and was created more than 40 years ago. It is the largest dune field in South America, with an area of ​​155,000 hectares. That is, bigger than the city of São Paulo, being famous for the crystalline lagoons that form between the white dunes, during the rainy season. Currently, management is carried out by the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio). According to the Ministry of the Environment, the Park meets at least three criteria required by Unesco to become a world natural heritage: natural beauty, geological significance and habitats for the conservation of biodiversity, including endangered species. The candidacy dossier for Lençóis Maranhenses was sent in 2018 and the possible title will give more worldwide visibility to the conservation of the area. Listen on Radioagência Nacional Brazil already has seven sites declared World Natural Heritage: the Iguaçu National Park, in Foz do Iguaçu, on the border between Paraná and Argentina; the Atlantic Forest reserves, in São Paulo and Paraná; the Discovery Coast, in Bahia and Espírito Santo; the Protected Areas of the Central Amazon and the Pantanal; Chapada dos Veadeiros and the Emas National Park, in Goiás; in addition to the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha and Atol das Rocas. The Parque dos Lençóis Maranhenses could become the eighth on that list.

Agência Brasil