| Brazil declares more than 60,000 hectares as protected areas | ||||||||||||||||||
| (11/06/2010 10:26:42) | ||||||||||||||||||
| The municipality of Boa Nova, located in Southern Bahia, gained two memorable reasons to celebrate the Environment Week. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, signed yesterday the creation of the Boa Nova National Park (12.065 hectares) and the Boa Nova Wildlife Refugee (15.024 hectares), totaling 27.000 hectares of protected areas. The ceremony was promoted in Salvador during the celebrations of the Environment Week, and counted with the presence of the Bahia state governor, Jaques Wagner, and the Ministry of Environment Izabella Teixeira. During the event, President Lula also signed the creation of the Serra das Lontras National Park, another Important Bird Area of priority action where 16 globally threatened bird species occur, and the creation of the Alto Cariri National Park, in addition to the expansion of the Pau Brasil National Park. Together, these areas will protect 66.545 hectares of Atlantic Forest, one of the most threatened biomes in the world. Table 1. Protected Areas announced in Bahia state
The creation of the protected areas at Boa Nova and Serra das Lontras priority IBAs is a milestone in the efforts for the protection of the region’s biodiversity. SAVE Brasil has been working on both areas for several years, in partnership with governments, non-governmental organizations and local communities, and supporting, since the beginning, the articulation process that culminated with the creation of these protected areas. Boa Nova Located in the Northeastern portion of the Planalto da Conquista plateau, Southern Bahia, Boa Nova is an area of great importance for birds as it is located in a transition area between the montane Atlantic Forest and the Caatinga (semi-arid vegetation). In this transition area lies a dry vegetation formation known as mata-de-cipó, habitat of the threatened Slender Antbird (Rhopornis ardesiacus), one of the rarest antbirds in Brazil. 396 bird species have been recorded to date at Boa Nova, 14 of which are globally threatened and 17 near- threatened. The region is considered a priority IBA by BirdLife International and SAVE Brasil. Its great biological richness and ecological importance have been theme of several scientific studies and journalistic reports. Today, Boa Nova is popularly known by its unique biodiversity what makes its local population very proud of it. The region also presents great number of rivers, springs and waterfalls, which protection is vital to supply the water demand of Boa Nova and surrounding municipalities and to maintain the economic activities of the region. To raise awareness on Boa Nova’s local community and change the way they interact with the natural environment, SAVE Brasil has been working since 2004 in an integrated conservation program at Boa Nova that involves scientific research, community engagement, environmental education, awareness raising, landscape management and articulation of public policies. Thanks to these efforts, the Slender Antbird was adopted as the symbol of Boa Nova and the community is actively involved in the actions for the conservation of the region. The dissemination of the importance of Boa Nova’s biodiversity and the mobilization of the local community were decisive factors in the articulation of the protected areas creation with the Brazilian Government. The region, that in the beginning of SAVE Brasil’s work in 2004 was one of the most neglected areas in terms of conservation, gradually attracted attention and took place in conservation plans and agendas, being today the symbol of the efforts for the conservation of the Atlantic Forest. Serra das Lontras The region of Serra das Lontras was identified by SAVE Brasil and BirdLife International, as an area of extreme importance for the conservation of threatened habitats and species in the Atlantic Forest biome. As Boa Nova, it is also considered an IBA of priority action. Located between the municipalities of Una and Arataca, in South Bahia, the Serra das Lontras Forest Complex comprises montane and lowland forests. This gradient of vegetation enables the occurrence of rich bird diversity: 330 species registered to date, 16 of which are globally threatened with extinction and 13 near-threatened. Serra das Lontras also home 735 angiosperm species, 150 species of ferns and lycophytes, and at least 38 species of mammals, among them two primates and three felids threatened with extinction. The region is also characterized by the traditional cultivation of cacao in cabruca, an agroforestry system that favors the conservation of biodiversity for being associated to areas of native Atlantic Forest. However, because of the cacao crisis, producers have been forced to substitute the cabrucas with more aggressive land uses which degrade forests and threaten the survival of the region’s rich biodiversity. Considering the ecological importance and the threats at Serra das Lontras, SAVE Brasil defined it as a priority area for action and has contributed, since 2000, to the conservation of the Atlantic Forest in the region. Actions aim at the implementation of a model of development that integrates the conservation of forests, with the promotion of an environmentally friendly agriculture and the social development of rural communities. The work developed by SAVE Brasil on public policies is funded by the Aage V Jensen Charity Foundation. The conservation programme at Boa Nova is funded by the Brazilian Ministry of the Environment - Ecological Corridors Project, KFW, Nature Canada and Ricoh Co. Ltd. A project for the conservation and sustainable development of Serra das Lontras was funded by the European Union, from 2005 to 2009. The project was developed by BirdLife International, in partnership with SAVE Brasil and Instituto de Estudos Socioambientais do Sul da Bahia (IESB). |
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