[1] Serra do Gandarela National Park covers parts of the municipalities of Caeté (2.37%), Itabirito (10.01%), Mariana (0.23%), Nova Lima (1.99%), Ouro Preto (9.91%, Raposos (10.8%), Rio Acima (19.46%) and Santa Bárbara (45.22%) in the state of Minas Gerais.

[1] At the request of a number of civil organisations the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio) prepared a proposal for creating the park, protecting a large part of the Belo Horizonte water sources, which were seriously threatened by mining for iron ore.

The purpose is to preserve samples of biological, geological, speleological and hydrological heritage associated with the Quadrilátero Ferrífero formations, including alpine meadows, remnants of semi-deciduous forest, aquifer recharge areas and the scenery of mountains, plateaus, rivers, waterfalls and natural vegetation.

[2] Roberto Vizentin, president of ICMBio, defended the reduction from 38,200 to 31,200 hectares (94,000 to 77,000 acres) and the high risk of pollution from mining as a necessary compromise given the relatively low Human Development Index in the region.

[7] Among the animal species that live in the park are[8] theː chaco eagle (Harpyhaliaetus coronatus), cinereous warbling finch (Poospiza cinerea), cougar (Puma concolor), brown howler (Alouatta guariba), tayra (Eira barbara), margay (Leopardus wiedii), collared peccary (Pecari tajacu), masked titi (Callicebus personatus), maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus), southern tamandua (Tamandua tetradactyla), long-nosed armadillo (Dasypus septemcinctus) and jaguar (Panthera onca).