Ilhas Cagarras

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Ilhas Cagarras
Cagarras Islands

Rio de Janeiro 20040119 054.jpg

A view of Ipanema from Corcovado. The Cagarras Islands can be seen on the background, along with islands Redonda and Redondinha further at the back.
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Nearest city Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Coordinates 23°01′49″S43°12′01″W / 23.030278°S 43.200364°W / -23.030278; -43.200364 Coordinates: 23°01′49″S43°12′01″W / 23.030278°S 43.200364°W / -23.030278; -43.200364
Area 523 ha (1,290 acres)
Designation Natural monument
Created 13 April 2010
Administrator Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation

The Ilhas Cagarras (Cagarras Islands) are an uninhabited archipelago located 5 km (3.1 miles) off Ipanema, a major beach of the southern coast of the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. They have been designated a federal natural monument since 2010.

Archipelago A group of islands

An archipelago, sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands.

Ipanema Neighbourhood in Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Ipanema is a neighborhood located in the South Zone of the city of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), between Leblon and Arpoador. The beach at Ipanema became known internationally with the popularity of the bossa nova jazz song, "The Girl from Ipanema", written by Antônio Carlos Jobim and Vinícius de Moraes.

Rio de Janeiro Second-most populous municipality in Brazil

Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is anchor to the Rio de Janeiro metropolitan area and the second-most populous municipality in Brazil and the sixth-most populous in the Americas. Rio de Janeiro is the capital of the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil's third-most populous state. Part of the city has been designated as a World Heritage Site, named "Rio de Janeiro: Carioca Landscapes between the Mountain and the Sea", by UNESCO on 1 July 2012 as a Cultural Landscape.

Contents

Location

The archipelago is in the municipality of Rio de Janeiro, in the state of Rio de Janeiro. It has an area of 523 hectares (1,290 acres). [1] It is an important area for fisheries and tourism, and is subjected to upwelling of cold waters during summer. [2] The water quality is relatively poor due to its close proximity with Rio's city waste water disposal. The islands are nonetheless frequented by day excursions of eco-tourists. The archipelago consists of the following islands ("ilha" in Portuguese means island, "ilhota" = islet):

The first three are the largest. Ilha Cagarra, the island group's namesake, is the tallest (79m/259 ft.) and most visible from land. Although the islands Ilha Redonda and Ilha Redondinha are located nearby, they are not part of the Cagarras archipelago.

Origin of the name

There is no consensus among authors about the origin of the name of this archipelago. The most commonly accepted version says that the toponymy would be due to the large amount of excrement (in Portuguese, "cagádas" ) of seabirds that live, nest and feed on these islands. After feeding mainly on fish, these birds excrete their feces, rich in calcium, on the rocky slopes of the islands, staining them white. This hue is clearly visible from the shore of Ipanema, one of the south beaches of Rio de Janeiro

In 1730, its main island, appears on a nautical chart with a Frenchified name "Island Cagade." In another letter, dated 1767, the same appears with the island carrying its name in Portuguese: "Crappy Island." "Ilha Cagáda"

Another possibility for its name, is that Portuguese sailors wrongly identified the frigatebirds (fragatas in Portuguese) that nest on these islands, with the Scopoli's shearwater (cagarras in Portuguese) seabirds that live in the archipelagos of Madeira and the Azores (Portuguese territories): the shearwater or cagarra ( Calonectris diomedea ) is not found on Brazilian islands.

Madeira Autonomous Region of Portugal in the archipelago of Madeira

Madeira, officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira, is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the north Atlantic Ocean, southwest of Portugal. Its total population was estimated in 2011 at 267,785. The capital of Madeira is Funchal, which is located on the main island's south coast.

Azores Portuguese archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean

The Azores, officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores, is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal. It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the North Atlantic Ocean about 1,360 km (850 mi) west of continental Portugal, about 1,643 km (1,021 mi) west of Lisbon, in continental Portugal, about 1,507 km (936 mi) northwest of Morocco, and about 1,925 km (1,196 mi) southeast of Newfoundland, Canada.

Shearwater medium-sized long-winged seabirds, common name for a subgroup of the family Procellariidae

Shearwaters are medium-sized long-winged seabirds. There are more than 30 species of shearwaters, a few larger ones in the genus Calonectris and many smaller species in the genus Puffinus. The Procellaria petrels and Bulweria were believed to belong to this group, but are only distantly related based on more recent studies, while the Pseudobulweria and Lugensa "petrels" are more closely related. The genus Puffinus can be divided into a group of small species close to Calonectris and a few larger ones more distantly related to both.

History of the Archipelago

The islands are situated in proximity to the discharge in the sea of sewage from almost all the South Zone of Rio de Janeiro, through the Ipanema canal, an important work of sanitary engineering built in the 1970s in accordance with the Protocol of Annapolis.[ citation needed ] CONAMA proposed making the Ilhas Cagarras Archipelago and Area of Relevant Ecological Interest on 14 September 1989, but nothing was done at the time. [3] Creation of the natural monument was due to the initiative of Mr Fernando Gabeira of the Green Party.

On 13 April 2010 the incumbent vice president José Alencar signed a decree creating the Cagarras Islands Natural Monument. [3] The purpose was to preserve the remnants of the island ecosystem in the Atlantic Forest domain, to preserve the scenic beauty, and to maintain a refuge and nesting area for migratory shorebirds. The monument consisted of the Cagarras, Palmas and Comprida islands and the Filhote da Cagarra islet, as well as the water for 10 metres (33 ft) around the land. Any activity that could damage the ecosystem or disturb the aquatic fauna and sea birds was prohibited. [3] The consultative council was created on 14 December 2010. [3] The natural monument is part of the Carioca Mosaic, created in 2011. [4]

José Alencar politician and businessman

José Alencar Gomes da Silva was a Brazilian businessman and politician who served as the Vice President of Brazil from 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2010. In business from a young age, Alencar became a self-made multimillionaire as the chief executive of Coteminas, a leading textile manufacturer. In the 1990s, Alencar groomed his son to succeed him at the company.

Atlantic Forest biome in Brazil

The Atlantic Forest is a South American forest that extends along the Atlantic coast of Brazil from Rio Grande do Norte state in the north to Rio Grande do Sul state in the south, and inland as far as Paraguay and the Misiones Province of Argentina, where the region is known as Selva Misionera.

Carioca Mosaic

The Carioca Mosaic is a protected area mosaic in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It includes various federal, state and municipal conservation units in and around the city of Rio de Janeiro.

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Ilha Comprida Municipality in Southeast, Brazil

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References

  1. ↑ MONAT das Ilhas Cagarras – ISA, Informações gerais.
  2. ↑ J. Mar. Biol. Ass. 2004.
  3. 1 2 3 4 MONAT das Ilhas Cagarras – ISA, Historico Juridico.
  4. ↑ Mosaico Carioca de Áreas Protegidas – MMA, Mosaico Carioca.

Sources

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