Amapá Biodiversity Corridor (Brazil)

Amapá Biodiversity Corridor (Brazil)

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The Amapá Biodiversity Corridor is an ecological corridor in Amapá, Brazil, that links with protected areas in Pará state and other Guiana Shield countries. The ecological corridor is a collection of natural or semi-natural sites that link protected areas and allow gene flow between them.

Amapá Biodiversity Corridor

The Amapá Biodiversity Corridor is an ecological corridor in Amapá, Brazil. It provides integrated management for conservation units and other areas covering 10,476,117 ha (25,887,000 acres), or 72% of the state.

An ecological corridor in Brazil is a collection of natural or semi-natural areas that link protected areas and allow gene flow between them. For example, the Biodiversity Corridor links protected areas in Amapá to protected areas in Pará and other Guiana Shield countries.

The Guiana Shield and the state of Amapá have great biodiversity. More than 180 mammal species have been identified in the protected areas, including the jaguar, giant otter, red-handed howler, giant anteater and Amazonian manatee.

The Biodiversity Corridor includes the Juminá, Galibi, Uaça, Parque do Tumucumaque and Waiãpi indigenous territories. As of 2016, it included 12 federal or state-protected areas.

Amapá National Forest

The Amapá National Forest is divided between the municipalities of Pracuúba, Ferreira Gomes and Amapá; within the state of Amapá. It has an area of 460,352 ha (1,137,556 acres).

The forest is bounded to the north by the small Mutum River, east by the Falsino River, west by the Araguari River, and south by the confluence of the Falsino and Araguari.

In the extreme north, there are chains of mountains of significant height, thought to belong to the Tumucumaque complex. To the east, it adjoins the Amapá State Forest. To the northwest, it borders the Montanhas do Tumucumaque National Park.

The National Forest contains a large area of humid tropical forest, mostly terra firma. It is accessible only by one viable waterway, the Araguari, from the municipality of Porto Grande.

Vegetation includes imposing Amazon species such as Dinizia excelsa, Manilkara huberi, Vouacapoua Americana, and Caryocar villosum. Common palms are Euterpe oleracea (açaí) and Iriartea exorrhiza.

Amapá State Forest

The Amapá State Forest is divided between the municipalities of Tartarugalzinho, Pracuúba, Porto Grande, Oiapoque, Mazagão, Ferreira Gomes, Calçoene, Pedra Branca do Amaparí, Amapá and Serra do Navio. It has an area of 2,369,400 ha (5,855,000 acres) and covers 16.5% of the state.

To the west, it adjoins the Tumucumaque Mountains National Park and the Amapá National Forest. In the northeast, it borders the Cabo Orange National Park.

Cabo Orange National Park

Cabo Orange National Park contains mangroves, flooded fields, clean fields interspersed with savannahs, flooded forests (floodplains), upland forests, and marine ecosystems.

Tumucumaque Mountains National Park

Tumucumaque Mountains National Park covers 1% of the Amazon forest in Brazil, an area of more than 38,800 sq km (14,980 sq mi), making it the world's largest tropical forest national park. In addition, it is the first to protect a unique ecoregion called the Guyana moist forest.

Additional Protected Areas

  • State:
    • Fazendinha Environmental Protection Area

    • Parazinho Biological Reserve

    • Rio Curiau Environmental Protection Area

    • Rio Iratapuru Sustainable Development Reserve

  • Federal:
    • Jari Ecological Station

    • Lago Piratuba Biological Reserve

    • Maracá-Jipioca Ecological Station

    • Rio Cajari Extractive Reserve

Location map for Amapá state, Brazil

Location map for Amapá state, Brazil