Amazonian Conservation

Although the Amazon rainforest is increasingly ravaged and there are competing views out there about what a rainforest is good for, Brazil has announced a new state forest.

Brazil has announced the creation of a Amapá State Forest, a 5.7 million acre Amazon protected area larger than the state of New Jersey. According to Conservation International (CI), a conservation group involved with the creation of the state forest, "the designation protects a crucial section of the Amapá Biodiversity Corridor of northern Brazil, which includes some of the most pristine remaining Amazon forest" and is home to some twenty three newly discovered species.

The Amapá Biodiversity Corridor -- which includes a variety of ecosystems including tropical forests, mangrove swamps, savannah, and wetlands -- is home to more than 1,700 species of animals and plants, including 430 species of birds, 104 species of amphibians, 124 reptile species and 127 mammal species, including 62 bat species, according to biological surveys conducted by Conservation International (CI) and the Amapá State Institute for Research. At the core of the Amapá Biodiversity Corridor is Tumucumaque National Park, the world's largest tropical forest park.

Photo: Enrico Bernard/CI