The Balata-Tufari National Forest ( pt, Floresta Nacional de Balata-Tufari) is a national forest in the state of Amazonas, Brazil. It was created to support sustainable extraction of forest products such as timber subject to restrictions and regulations defined by law or the responsible agency, ICMBio.

Location

The Balata-Tufari National Forest covers parts of the municipalities of Canutama (90.85%) and

Tapauá Tapauá is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality located in the States of Brazil, Brazilian state of Amazonas (Brazilian state), Amazonas. Its population was 17,015 (2020) and its area is 89,324 km2, making it the third largest municipalit ...

(9.15%) in the state of Amazonas. It has an area of . It is bounded by the

Purus River The Purus River (Portuguese: ''Rio Purus''; Spanish: ''Río Purús'') is a tributary of the Amazon River in South America. Its drainage basin is , and the mean annual discharge is . The river shares its name with the Alto Purús National Park and ...

to the west, by the first section of the

Trans-Amazonian Highway The Trans-Amazonian Highway (official designation BR-230, official name Rodovia Transamazônica), was introduced on September 27, 1972. It is 4,000 km long, making it the third longest highway in Brazil. It runs through the Amazon forest and ...

(BR-230) from

Lábrea Lábrea () is the southernmost municipality in the Brazilian state of Amazonas. Economy The population of the Lábrea municipality was 46,882 as of 2020. Its area is . This makes it the sixth largest municipality in Amazonas by area and the ten ...

Humaitá Humaitá is a town and ''distrito'' on the Paraguay River in southern Paraguay. During the Paraguayan War, it served as the main Paraguayan stronghold from 1866 until its fall in August 1868. During that time, it housed as many as 24,000 troops. ...

which cuts across its southern end, and by BR-319 to the east. The Mucuim River runs through the forest, flowing north from the

Mapinguari National Park Mapinguari National Park ( pt, Parque Nacional Mapinguari) is a national park in the states of Rondônia and Amazonas, Brazil. It covers a large area of Amazon rainforest. The boundaries have been adjusted several times. Location The Mapingu ...

, which lies to the south of BR-230. The Mucuim is joined within the forest by the Açuã River, which rises in the

. 2.47% of the national forest's area overlaps with the

. The national forest is in the

Amazon biome The Amazon biome ( pt, Bioma Amazônia) contains the Amazon rainforest, an area of tropical rainforest, and other ecoregions that cover most of the Amazon basin and some adjacent areas to the north and east. The biome contains blackwater and white ...

. It contains 91.44% open rainforest, 6.45% dense rainforest and 2.11% contact between savannah and rainforest. About 2000 families live in the forest, mostly farmers who own or lease small plots. The Balata-Tufari National Forest and the nearby Iquiri National Forest have great potential not only for sustainable extraction of timber but also for products such as oils, resins, nuts, seeds and fruits.

History

The Balata-Tufari National Forest was created by decree on 17 February 2005 and is administered by the

Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation The Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (Portuguese: ''Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade'', ICMBio) is the Brazilian Ministry of the Environment's administrative arm."Brazilian Federal Law 11.516/2007 (Por ...

(ICMBio). It is classed as

IUCN protected area category IUCN protected area categories, or IUCN protected area management categories, are categories used to classify protected areas in a system developed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The enlisting of such areas is par ...

VI (protected area with sustainable use of natural resources) with the objective of sustainable multiple use of forest resources and scientific research, with emphasis on methods for sustainable exploitation of native forests. The forest had three areas when created: Gleba Balata with , Gleba Tufari with and Gleba Jacaré with . On 8 May 2008 a fourth area was added, Area 4 with . The advisory council was formed on 14 December 2010. An ordinance of 9 January 2012 provided for a consistent and integrated approach to preparing management plans for the conservation units in the BR-319 area of influence. These are the

Abufari Biological Reserve Abufari Biological Reserve ( pt, Reserva Biológica do Abufari) is a biological reserve in the state of Amazonas, Brazil. It is mostly lowland tropical rainforest, with very diverse flora and fauna. Location The Abufari Biological Reserve is in ...

Cuniã Ecological Station Cuniã Ecological Station ( pt, Estação Ecológica de Cuniã) is a strictly protected ecological station in the states of Amazonas and Rondônia, Brazil. It preserves an area of savannah parkland on the border of the Amazon rainforest. The cons ...

, Nascentes do Lago Jari and

Mapinguari Mpinguari or Mpinguary, (also called the ''Juma'') are monsterous jungle-dwelling spirits from Brazilian folklore. Description There are two major depictions of it. Some described them as a hairy humanoid cyclops. This version is often said t ...

national parks, Balata-Tufari,

and Iquiri national forests, and the Lago do Capanã-Grande, Rio Ituxi, Médio Purus and Lago do Cuniã extractive reserves.

Notes

Sources

* * * * * {{authority control 2005 establishments in Brazil National parks of Brazil Protected areas of Amazonas (Brazilian state)