The Cerrado is a vast biome (1.8 million km²) of great richness and heterogeneity, and it is also one of the most threatened ecosystems in the world. Its conservation depends on studies that support a rational management. Within the Cerrado, the riparian forest is environmentally valuable and very extensive, but it is highly degraded. The breast height diameters and the botanical identifica­tion of the living trees in two sampling plots (2000 m2) of riparian forest in a protected area of the Cerrado were obtained. 279 trees from 32 families, 46 genera and 54 species were surveyed. 30% of the species belonged to only three families (Rubiaceae, Chrysobalanaceae and Myrtaceae). The Shannon-Wiener diversity index (H‘ = 3.09 nats/ind.) was lower than other references and the dis­tribution of the specimens by species was relatively homogeneous (equability equal to 0.77). Nine species accu...