Biological Reserves – A Continent Called Brazil

These have been created where there are features or species of fauna and flora of particular scientific interest. According to Brazilian Government official definitions, the Biological Reserves are restricted to entry by humans to a greater extent than are the National Parks, in order to conserve nature and maintain the evolutionary process without undue disturbance. They aim to protect representative ecological samples of the natural environment, on the one hand, to enable scientific study, environmental monitoring and scientific education, and on the other hand to maintain the genetic resources in an active and evolutionary state. At federal level, Brazil has twenty three Biological Reserves which altogether cover an area of more than three million hectares.

Notable amongst the Biological Reserves is Poço das Antas in Rio de Janeiro, where the golden lion monkey is protected, and Una in southern Bahia providing a sanctuary for the golden faced lion monkey.

The biological reserve at Atol das Rocas on the coast of Rio do Grande do Norte is an important centre for sheltering migratory and other birds that have chosen this extreme point of the Atlantic coast for breeding. There are two other important reserves in Espírito Santo: Comboios, which is a sanctuary for the marine turtle, and Soretama which is the most important protection area of the Mata Atlântica in the entire state. The Tinguá Biological Reserve in the state of Rio de Janeiro is also an important protection zone in the Mata Atlântica and similar to the others mentioned here, forming part of the nucleus of the Mata Atlântica Biosphere Reserve.

The largest biological reserves are located in Amazônia; worthy of special mention is the Guaporé reserve covering five hundred thousand hectares in Roraima, and Uatumã in Amazonas. There are four more that extend to more than two hundred thousand hectares: Jaru in Roraima; Rio Trombetas in Pará; Lago Piratuba in Amapá and Abufari in Amazonas.

The Biological Reserves are shown in a table, according to the order in which they were created.