Araripe Geopark

Araripe Geopark
Geoparque Araripe
Araripe-Apodi National Forest
Araripe Geopark is located in Brazil
Araripe Geopark
Araripe Geopark
Location within Brazil
Interactive map of Araripe Geopark
LocationCeará,  Brazil
Nearest cityCrato, Juazeiro do Norte
Coordinates7°14′S 39°24′W / 7.233°S 39.400°W / -7.233; -39.400
Area3,796 km2 (1,466 sq mi)
DesignationUNESCO Global Geopark
Established2006
Governing bodyGovernment of the State of Ceará and University of Cariri
Websitewww.geoparkararipe.org.br

The Araripe Geopark is located in the southern region of the state of Ceará in Northeastern Brazil and is the first geopark in Brazil to be recognized by UNESCO. The geopark covers an area of 3,796 km² across six municipalities –Barbalha, Crato, Juazeiro do Norte, Missão Velha, Nova Olinda, and Santana do Cariri.

The park contains a large concentration of pterosaur fossils from the Cretaceous era, making it as a global Lagerstätte site.

History and Recognition

The Araripe Sedimentary Basin, where the entirety of the park is located, was formed from the splitting of Pangea. Before the designation of a geopark, indigenous people, specifically the Cariri people, lived in the Chapada do Araripe area where the park stands today.

In 1946, the Brazilian government established Floresta Nacional do Araripe (FLONA) (National Forest of Araripe) to recognized the importance of the area. The chapada was later protected under the Environmental Protection Area status given to the park in 1997 that included 38 municipalities (including the six municipalities that made up the park). In 2005, the Government of Ceará applied to UNESCO to become a member of the Global Network of National Geoparks. The park was officially accepted the next year.

In 2015, UNESCO designated the park as a UNESCO Global Geoparks.

Geological and paleontological importance

One of the first fossil works here were carried out by Friedrich Philipp von Martius and Johann Baptist von Spix in the early 19th century. Interest grew after multiple species fossils were found in the area including Calamopleurus cylindricus, Cladocyclus gardneri, Lepidotes temnurus, Notelops brama, Rhacolepis buccalis, Rhacolepis latus, and Vinctifer comptoni by George Gardner and published by Louis Agassiz.

Brazilian researchers also began to conduct research in the 1940s, including Rubens da Silva Santos, Llewellyn Ivor Price, and Karl Beurlen. Among other known fossils found include five carbonate nodules with the fossil fishes of the species Vinctifer comptoni collected by João da Sylva Feijó which are housed in the Lisbon Academy of Sciences.

Geosites

View of a waterfall in the Chapada do Araripe
The plateau from afar

The Araripe Geopark has nine geosites across the park:

Fossils smuggling incidents

Between 1998 and 2008, Ceará authorities seized 32,728 stolen fossils which were to be sold to collectors, researchers, universities and museums in countries such as United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, France and Spain.

Federal authorities launched Operation Munich in 2012 which focused on seizing back fossils which were stolen. The operation was able to seize back thousands of fossils in limestone slabs (which include a pterosaur fossil, Tupandactylus navigans) which were being smuggled out of Brazil and addressed to muesuems in Britain and Germany.

In 2018, pterosaur fossils from the basin were smuggled to France and Germany in which Brazilian authorities requested the fossils to be extradiated back home. Brazil also requested investigations for fossils which were taken to the United States, Italy and Japan.

45 fossils were given back to Brazil from France after a legal battle between the two, after investigation began 5 years prior.

In October of 2020, authorities launched "Operation Santana Raptor" in the northern Chapada do Araripe region and targeted businessmen, civil servants, and middlemen who helped with the fossil trafficking.

On 24 May 2022, French customs officers returned 998 fossils after they were seized in 2013 at port of Le Havre.

The controversial Ubirajara jubatus fossil specimen, which was obtained in the 1990s from the Araripe Basin, finally returned to Brazil after a two-years of negotiations in 2023.

References

  1. ↑ Patricio, Kleber. "Geopark Araripe: primeiro geoparque do Brasil completa 15 anos" (in Portuguese). Retrieved 28 July 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 R., Gomes-Paiva; K.L., Mansur; R.W., Ribeiro (10 March 2026). "NESCO Global Geoparks in Brazil: Historical Development, Challenges, and Strategies for Sustainable Territorial Management". Geoheritage. 18. doi:10.1007/s12371-026-01280-z. Retrieved 28 July 2026.
  3. 1 2 "Sociobiodiverse Cultural Basin of the Chapada do Araripe". Retrieved 28 July 2026.
  4. 1 2 "ARARIPE UNESCO GLOBAL GEOPARK". Retrieved 28 July 2026.
  5. ↑ Herzog, Andre; Sales, Alexandre; Hillmer, Gero. (June 2008). The UNESCO Araripe Geopark: a short story of the evolution of life, rocks and continents (1 ed.). Expressão Gráfica e Editora. ISBN 9788575633823.
  6. ↑ "Araripe UNESCO Global Geopark". Retrieved 28 July 2026.
  7. ↑ Nogueira, Adriano (26 September 2017). "Polícia Federal apreendeu 32 mil fósseis do Ceará em 10 anos" (in Portuguese). Retrieved 28 July 2026.
  8. ↑ Runwal, Priyanka (25 August 2021). "Stunning fossil seized in police raid reveals prehistoric flying reptile's secrets". Retrieved 28 July 2026.
  9. ↑ "PF prende 7 em operação contra contrabando de fósseis" (in Portuguese). 7 October 2013. Archived from the original on 22 September 2021.
  10. ↑ "Fósseis do Ceará são contrabandeados e vendidos nos EUA, Japão e Europa" (in Portuguese). 1 May 2018. Retrieved 28 July 2026.
  11. ↑ Oliveira Andrade, Rodrigo de (11 June 2019). "Brazil wins legal fight over 100-million-year-old fossil bounty".
  12. ↑ Norris, Isaac (10 Nov 2020). "Stealing an Entire Dinosaur – Thieves Loot Brazil's Precious Fossils". Retrieved 28 July 2026.
  13. ↑ "French customs return 998 stolen fossils to UNESCO Global Geopark in Brazil". 3 June 2022. Retrieved 28 July 2026.
  14. ↑ Rodrigues, Meghie (14 June 2023). "Prized dinosaur fossil returned to Brazil after controversy". Retrieved 28 July 2026.