04 Dec
2006 - Belém, Brazil – The creation of
more than 16 million hectares of new protected
areas in Brazil’s north is a significant step
for conservation in the Amazon, says WWF-Brazil.
The Governor of the state of
Pará, Simão Jatene, signed the decrees
setting up the protected areas that will create
the biggest mosaic of protected areas on the planet,
including the largest strict preservation area.
“The creation of these new protected
areas is of enormous relevance for conservation
of the Amazon,” said Denise Hamú, CEO of
WWF-Brazil.
“It should be seen not only
as a solution to the environmental problems faced
by our country, but also essential as an immediate
action to reduce deforestation in the Amazon,”
added Cláudio Maretti, head of WWF-Brazil’s
Protected Areas Programme.
The new protected areas in Pará,
covering 16.4 million hectares — an area larger
than Portugal and Ireland combined — are rich
in biological diversity. However, the area is
threatened by illegal gold mining, which can contaminate
water resources with mercury and cause siltation,
illegal hunting, and unsustainable use of the
forest for wood products.
Deforestation through “land
grabbing” for irregular agriculture and cattle
ranching is also an issue. Though the Amazon rainforest
remains the largest expanse of its kind in the
world, scientists have estimated that more than
17 per cent of the biome in Brazil has been lost.
WWF has invested US$11 million
in protected areas throughout the Amazon in the
past four years, either directly or through the
Amazon Region Protected Areas Programme (ARPA).
In the state of Pará alone, WWF will invest
about US$6.5 million in the next three years.
It will also invest US$15 million in the ARPA
Endowment Fund, to be used for the long-term maintenance
of protected areas in the Amazon region.
Three state forests — Paru,
Trombetas and Faro — totalling 7.4 million hectares
are among the new protected areas to be created
with today's decree.
Two of the new areas will be
earmarked for strict preservation measures. These
are the Grão-Pará Ecological Station,
with about 4.3 million hectares, making it the
largest strict preservation area in the world,
and the Maicuru Biological Reserve, with about
1.2 million hectares.
These new protected areas will
also form the world's largest conservation corridor,
connecting them to a big protected area in Amapá,
which includes the Montanhas do Tumucumaque National
Park, which until now was the biggest protected
area created in the Brazilian Amazon. This mosaic
of protected areas will be further connected,
through indigenous people’s lands, with other
protected areas in the Brazilian states of Roraima
and Amazonas.
Another two areas being created
— the Iriri State Forrest and Triunfo do Xingu
Environmental Protection Area — have been eagerly
awaited since 2004 because they complete the Terra
do Meio mosaic of protected areas.
“WWF-Brazil had, together with
other organizations, asked the Pará State
government to complete the protection of the mosaic
in Terra do Meio," Maretti added. "It
is with great satisfaction to now see this being
accomplished."
The Terra do Meio region is
under constant pressure from deforestation, suffering
the highest deforestation rates in Brazil in the
past few years. There are three main causes: “land-grabbing”
associated with soy plantations, cattle ranching
in São Félix do Xingu, and irregular
occupation along the Transamazônia road.
There are also risks from new infrastructure projects
such as the proposed hydropower dam Belo Monte.
The creation of the protected
forests will enable a policy of sustainable forestry
to be implemented, thereby helping in Para's future
long-term economic development that integrates
conservation needs.
WWF Brazil has pledged
to continue its support to these protected areas.
