16/09/2025
Iguaçu National Park is a Brazilian protected area, part of the Conservation Units group. It is located in the Far West region of Paraná, 17 km from the city center of Foz do Iguaçu and just 5 km from Foz do Iguaçu International Airport. The national park covers a total area of 169,695.88 hectares and contains one of the most spectacular waterfalls on Earth, the Iguaçu Falls. It is administered by the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio).
It is also one of the few conservation areas of the Atlantic Forest, which once covered more than 1.3 million km² and is now reduced to just 7.3% of that total. Within the Atlantic Forest biome, the park preserves one of the largest stretches of original vegetation in the Upper Paraná Atlantic Forest ecoregion, now reduced to less than 5% of its original cover in Brazil.[2] What remains is currently found in small, isolated areas, including Conservation Units. Until the 1950s, the western region of Paraná remained environmentally well preserved; from then on, the most intense process of devastation isolated Iguaçu National Park. By 1980, it was already practically isolated, in a situation similar to that experienced in the Serra do Mar region, on the Paraná coast. (Source: SOS Mata Atlântica Foundation).
Regarding fauna biodiversity, 257 butterfly species have currently been recorded, but it is estimated that there are around 800, 45 mammals have been cataloged, 12 amphibians, 41 snakes, 8 lizards, 18 fish and 200 bird species (IBAMA). According to ICMBio, the Park covers 14 municipalities in Paraná: Capanema, Capitão Leônidas Marques, Santa Lúcia, Lindoeste, Santa Tereza do Oeste, Diamante d'Oeste, Céu Azul, Matelândia, Ramilândia, Medianeira, Serranópolis do Iguaçu, São Miguel do Iguaçu, Santa Terezinha de Itaipu and Foz do Iguaçu.
On November 17, 1986, it received the distinction of Natural World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The park's first Management Plan was drawn up in 1981, but it was only revised in 1999. The park protects the entire basin of the Floriano River, one of the tributaries of the Iguaçu River, a rarity in southern Brazil for its water quality. Its headwaters are near the BR-277 highway, between Céu Azul and Santa Terezinha de Itaipu. Iguaçu Falls, along with the Amazon Rainforest, are among the 28 finalists in the global campaign to choose the Seven Natural Wonders of the World, organized by the New 7 Wonders Foundation and scheduled to run until 2011, when the number of votes is expected to reach 1 billion. Voting is available online through the official New 7 Wonders Foundation website.