Posted on 17 May 2016

Published by ICMBio.
Original version in Portuguese here (http://bit.ly/1TVlTcb)


Brasilia (May 12, 2016) – The Brazilian Amazon has just gained an additional 2.83 million hectares of protected areas. Decrees published in the Official Federal Gazette, on (Wednesday) May 11 and (Thursday) 12, create five protected areas (PAs) and expand an existing one. The Amazon biome accounts for almost half of Brazilian national territory and almost 20% of its area is under the protection of federal, state or municipal PAs.


The recently created areas are the Campos de Manicore Environmental Protection Area, the Manicore Biological Reserve, the Acari National Park and the National Forests of Aripuana and Urupadi.  The Amana National Forest has had its area increased. All the PAs are located in the Madeira River basin in the southern Amazon and together they occupy an area larger than the state of Alagoas (Brazil).


The establishment of the new protected areas was based on studies conducted by the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio), with support from the Ministry of the Environment and financed by the Amazon Protected Areas Program (ARPA). Located in the Madeira River basin in the southern Amazon, the areas are under considerable pressure but now they will be able to boost local economies on the basis of sustainable forest management. Some of them are suitable for the development of ecotourism because of their extraordinary natural beauty (Click here to read a brief summary of the ICMBio studies).


The Acari Nationa Park has the largest area among the new PAs and it will guarantee the strict protection of 896 thousand hectares of Amazon Forest. The overriding aim is to preserve the ecosystem, contribute towards ensuring environmental stability and unfold recreational and educational activities in close contact with local nature. The area is home to various species under threat of extinction and it has an abundance of wildlife that includes 150 species of mammals and 600 bird species.


The studies have revealed that the Aripuana National Forest is also extremely rich in biological terms and consequently has important scientific potential. In the last ten years at leat three new primate species and two new bird species have been discovered there. In addition to facilitating research, the creation of the National Forest will safeguard the permanence of traditional peoples, guarantee the maintenance of water resources and biodiversity and ensure the sustainable management of the forest.


In the same region, north of Federal Highway BR-230, the Urudapi National Forest fosters the sustainable use of natural resources. The formal creation of the National Forest will also endow the Alto Maues Ecological Station with greater security and contribute towards the conservation of primates that inhabit the area. This set of protected areas in the surroundings will expand the region’s forest-based economy.


The Amana National Forest has had its area increased by 141 thousand hectares That expansion will make it possible to maintain and protect water resources and biodiversity and also ensure the sustainable management of wood and non wood resources in the region. In that way the connectivity of local ecosystems will be achieved because this is an isolated area in the midst of a set of existing protected areas and accordingly it was a potential focus of pressures.


Complementing the National Forests are Campos de Manicore Environmental Protection Area and the Manicore Biological Reserve, helping to protect the region’s biodiversity. The local ecosystem is considered to be fragile and it was without representation in any of the other areas under federal protection. In the Environmental Protection Area, land settlement processes will be disciplined by conservation considerations.  In turn, the biological reserve will extend protection to parts of the Manicore, Manicorezinho, Jatuarana Rivers and their tributaries.


Check out the information on the new areas:
 
Campos de Manicore Environmental Protection Area
Municipalities: Manicore, Amazonas state, Brazil 
Area: 152 thousand hectares
 
Manicore Biological Reserve
Municipalities: Manicore and Novo Aripuana 
Area: 359 thousand hectares
 
Aripuana National Forest
Municipalities: Apuí, Manicore and Novo Aripuana
Area: 751 thousand hectares
 
Urupadi National Forest
Municipalities: Maues
Area: 537 thousand hectares
 
Acari National Park
Municipalities: Apuí, Novo Aripuana and Borba
Area: 896 thousand hectares