in fact, at the western edge of praia da
ponta grossa is the
área de proteção ambiental das brisas (mata do casqueiro),
a park created in 1992 to preserve the local flora and fauna.
this park is of particular historical and
archeological significance as it contains 'sambaquis' (shell-mounds)
- ancient deposits formed by shells, kitchenware, utensils, and
skeletons piled up by the populations which inhabited the
coastal area in prehistoric times and then petrified by a
natural calcification process.
the flora develops on the sandbanks dunes under
marine influence.