Barra do Rio Mamanguape Environmental Protection Area ( pt, Área de Proteção Ambiental Barra do Rio Mamanguape) is a protected area of 14,640

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is a ...

s in the estuary of the Mamanguape River in the state of

Paraíba Paraíba ( Tupi: ''pa'ra a'íba''; ) is a state of Brazil. It is located in the Brazilian Northeast, and it is bordered by Rio Grande do Norte to the north, Ceará to the west, Pernambuco to the south and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Paraíba ...

, Brazil.

Foundation

There was a drive to develop sugar cane plantations in the region in the 1970s. The resulting massive loss of

Atlantic Forest The Atlantic Forest ( pt, Mata Atlântica) is a South American forest that extends along the Atlantic coast of Brazil from Rio Grande do Norte state in the northeast to Rio Grande do Sul state in the south and inland as far as Paraguay and th ...

created pressure to use the mangroves in the Mamanguape River estuary as wood for construction, despite the poor quality of the wood and the value of the mangroves as shelter for crabs, clams, oysters and fish. The coastal marine protected area, which has an area of , was finally established on 10 September 1993. It 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 ...

. The area includes parts of the

Baía da Traição Baía da Traição is a municipality in the state of Paraíba in the Northeast Region of Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin ...

Lucena Lucena, officially the City of Lucena ( fil, Lungsod ng Lucena), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the Calabarzon region of the Philippines. It is the capital city of the province of Quezon where it is geographically situated but, in t ...

Marcação Marcação is a municipality in the state of Paraíba in the Northeast Region of Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. ...

and

Rio Tinto Rio Tinto, meaning "red river", may refer to: Businesses * Rio Tinto (corporation), an Anglo-Australian multinational mining and resources corporation ** Rio Tinto Alcan, based in Canada ** Rio Tinto Borax in America *** Rio Tinto Borax Mine, a ...

municipalities of Paraíba. It is

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 ...

V (protected landscape/seascape). The overall purpose is to control land use, protect biodiversity and ensure sustainable use of natural resources. Specific objectives include conserving the habitat of the

West Indian manatee The West Indian manatee (''Trichechus manatus''), also known as the North American manatee, is a large, aquatic mammal native to warm coastal areas of the Caribbean, from the eastern US to northern Brazil. Living alone or in herds, it feeds on un ...

(Trichechus manatus), conserving the remaining mangrove and rainforest, and promoting eco-tourism.

Environment

The Barra do Rio Mamanguape is a relatively secluded area on the north coast of Paraiba with sandy beaches, dunes, reefs and well-preserved mangroves. It is the main area where the manatee is found, and the main breeding area. The area contains remnants of the

biome. Its importance is linked to its estuary

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...

, which includes the

manatee Manatees (family Trichechidae, genus ''Trichechus'') are large, fully aquatic, mostly herbivorous marine mammals sometimes known as sea cows. There are three accepted living species of Trichechidae, representing three of the four living species ...

, species highly threatened in the area.

Notes

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Barra do Rio Mamanguape Environmental Protection Area Environmental protection areas of Brazil Protected areas of Paraíba