News
Regional press visits the Veracel Station and gets to know the Researchers’ House
On December 20, Veracel Celulose conducted an event for journalists working for radios, newspapers, Internet sites and television stations of Porto Seguro and Eunápolis. The event was held at Veracel Station, a private Natural Heritage Reserve (RPPN) straddling the border of Porto Seguro and Santa Cruz Cabrália. Besides trail walking in the reserve, the journalists visited the station’s newest space: the Researcher’s House. Through this building for accommodating researchers, the station now has complete infrastructure to receive scholars from around the country to carry out new studies. Veracel has been making research into the station’s fauna and flora possible since 1992 through partnerships with universities and research institutes.
With total area of 135 m2, the Researcher’s House contains three bedrooms containing two double-deck beds, two bathrooms (men and women) and a fully-equipped kitchen. Moreover, the house has two partially-equipped laboratories. With this configuration, the house can accomodate 12 researchers simultaneously.
The first researchers to make use of the facility were Bruno Pimenta, a zoology doctoral candidate, Carlos Alberto Gonçalves da Cruz, a PhD in Biological Sciences and Ivan Nunes, working on a Masters Degree in Zoology. The three are all from Rio de Janeiro’s National Museum, which is part of the Science and Culture Forum sponsored by the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. They worked on a monitoring program of amphibians at the station. One of these species - which has awakened the most interest of these researchers - is the very rare Hylomantis aspera tree frog. “I have seen a number of support structures in the past and this one really is very good, and has been from the start,” said Gonçalves da Cruz at the time of his visit. According to Nunes, “the research structure is excellent.”
Veracel Station - Located 15 km from the historic center of Porto Seguro, the Veracel Station, which is the new name of the former Veracruz Station, it is the largest RPPN within the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Created in 1988, the Station in 1999 was awarded recognition by UNESCO as a World Discovery Coast Natural Heritage Site. Containing 6,069 hectares, the reserve shelters some 300 tree species and 4oo vertebrate species, including endemic and threatened species. It is estimated that there is an even larger number still to be identified.
Researchers made the first discovey in Bahia of a Harpy Eagle nest inside the station in September 2005. The Harpy Eagle is one of the largest birds of prey in the world, with a wingspan of 2 meters and weighing up to 10 kilos. Also known as a Royal Eagle, the species was regularly spotted in the Atlantic Forest until the 1940s, but today is rare in the region.