National Park Tumucumaque Montains

rio de janeiro, brazil, aug. 22, 2003 — a northern swath of amazon rainforest bigger than maryland and containing at least 350 bird species became the world's largest tropical national park thursday. president fernando henrique cardoso signed a decree creating the tumucumaque mountains national park covering a virtually uninhabited region of virgin rainforest in amapa state, along brazil's northern borders with suriname and guyana.tumcumaque, which means ?the rock on top of the mountain? in the language of the apalai and wayana indians, covers 9.6 million acres of forest-blanketed mountains with granite outcroppings rising up to 2,300 feet above the forest canopy.?with the creation of tumucumaque mountains national park, we are ensuring the protection of one of the most pristine forests remaining in the world,? cardoso said. ?plants and animals that may be endangered elsewhere will continue to thrive in our forests forever.?part of summit plans

the move is one of several environmental measures the government is preparing ahead of the world summit on sustainable development, which starts monday in johannesburg, south africa.