Conservation of biodiversity in Amazon The Amazon has good motives for celebrating. On the date when the International Tropical Forest Day is celebrated (June 26), the environmental organization, Conservation International
(CI-Brasil), the Alcoa Foundation and Alcoa Alumínio S.A. launched a program to support conservation of the biodiversity of one of the richest areas for species in the region, which lies between the Tapajós and Madeira rivers, in the West of Pará State and the East of Amazonas State. This initiative was recognized by the Ministry of Environment, through the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources
(IBAMA) and by the Secretariat of Environment of the Pará State Government (SEMA).
The Program will be implemented over five years and will receive R$ 2 million from the partner institutions. The main aim is to collaborate with the implementation of conservation units in this region, a strategy which, according to many studies that are a point of reference on such matters, is indicated as being the most efficient when it comes to protecting the biodiversity and restricting deforestation in areas that are socially and economically very dynamic. The initiative is an expansion of a partnership that has already been going for three years. Since 2004, and with the financial support of Alcoa, Conservation International has been working in the Amazon National Park, in
Itaituba, in Pará.
In the first phase of the program five conservation units have been selected as priorities for investment: the Tapajós-Arapiuns Hunting and Gathering Reserve, the Amazon National Park, the Pau Rosa National Forest, the Maués State Forest and the Amaná National Forest. These units are practically inter-connected and form the nucleus of a new Biodiversity Corridor in the Amazon that covers almost 10 million hectares and is spread over the municipalities of Juruti (PA), Maués (AM), Santarém (PA), Aveiro (PA) and Itaituba (PA).
Conservation Program – The Program will be divided into four component parts. The aim of the first is to carry out a diagnosis of the situation of the five conservation units in order to identify the priority actions for each of them. A detailed institutional map will be made to understand the perceptions of local society with regard to these units and the technical capacity that already exists in the region for the development of conservation projects.
The second component is to support the implementation of the five priority conservation units, by allocating technical and financial resources to the unit managers. The latter must submit projects that will be evaluated from the technical point of view and, if approved, they will start receiving support from the Program.
The third component of the Conservation Program is aimed at training local individuals and institutions to develop conservation and sustainable development programs, by means of courses and seminars.
Finally, the fourth component aims to provide technical and financial support for the individuals and institutions that have been trained in accordance with the previous component so that they may develop their own environmental projects. The first and second components of the Biodiversity Conservation Support Program for the Tapajós-Madeira region will be developed during 2007, while the others will start next year.
Sustainable development – According to Maurício Mercadante, director of Protected Areas of the Ministry of the Environment
(MMA), the initiative launched by the two organizations is in line with the directives of the Government, which is seeking to promote local and regional development based on the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. “We want to generate wealth, employment and income, by improving the lives of people without destroying the forest, leaving it standing and as untouched as possible from the ecological point of view”, he says.
Mercadante refers to the experiment that brought together
Ibama, CI-Brasil and Alcoa, in a project to support the Amazon National Park, one of the results of which was the introduction of infrastructure for use by the general public of the area, with the construction of a lookout platform and nature trails in the locality.
The initiative was recognized by the Para State Secretary for the Environment says that “the Government of the State of Pará considers this initiative by Conservation International and Alcoa to be a good example of how the corporate sector and the third sector can join together with the aim of contributing to the conservation of the biodiversity of one of the richest places on the planet in species.
Local biodiversity – Among the biodiversity of animals present in the Tapajós-Madeira region there are endemic species – found only in this region – such as the Mãe-de-taoca-arlequim
(Rhegmathorina berlepschi) [harlequin antbird], an attractive bird found in the undergrowth of the forest that follows the trails of the formigas-de-correição [army ants], and two small primates known as the Sagüi-de-Santarém
(Mico humeralifer) [back and white tassel-eared marmoset] and the Sagüi-de-Maués
(Mico mauesi) [Maues marmoset]. In addition to these there are proven records of populations of species threatened with extinction, such as the ararajuba
(Guaruba guarouba) [golden conure], the green and yellow parakeet that depends on extensive stretches of forest for it survival, and the arara-azul
(Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus) [hyacinth macaw].
Mercadante refers to the experiment that brought together
Ibama, CI-Brasil and Alcoa, in a project to support the Amazon National Park, one of the results of which was the introduction of infrastructure for use by the general public of the area, with the construction of a lookout platform and nature trails in the locality.